Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank goes for a syndicated loan of US$ 50 million from a Dutch development agency
The Nations Trust Bank (NTB) of Sri Lanka has reportedly opted for a syndicated loan of US$ 50 million from FMO, which is a Dutch development agency, in order to support its business banking activities – mainly loans to small and medium enterprises.
A statement to the media has noted that FMO was able to blend tranches from commercial lenders and themselves to offer an overall facility with a five-year tenor that resulted in a maturity profile aligned well with the NTB’s needs.
“This syndicated transaction is FMO’s first repeat deal for Nations Trust Bank, following a subordinated loan which was provided eight years earlier to further the bank’s ambitious growth strategy,” the statement has said.
Renuka Fernando, NTB Chief Executive Officer, has been quoted in the local media as saying that the loan not only provided stable longer term funding to the bank but also opened doors to broad base funding options by establishing relationships with other commercial lenders some of whom are new to the Sri Lankan market.
The statement has added that the syndicated loan also enabled NTB to reach out to financiers such as Standard Chartered Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, First Commercial Bank (Taiwan) and Atlantic For faitierungs.
FMO is known as Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. in Dutch or the Netherlands Development Finance Company.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s banking sector is on a strong footing and foreign banks and lenders are therefore ready to organize syndicated loans for local banks. The latest is NTB to receive a banking facility from a Dutch development agency. Sri Lankan banks are also focused on promoting the small and medium scale business development in the country, which in turn would result in the overall strengthening of Sri Lanka’s economy. Therefore, foreign businesses could explore opportunities to set up partnerships with local SMEs and expand their businesses locally and eventually expand regionally as well.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20181017/Z_2 |