Surinamese bank gets injection of funds from World Bank Group

De Surinaamsche Bank is the first beneficiary of a funding intervention by the World Bank into Suriname.

PARAMARIBO, Suriname, Thursday April 19, 2012 — De Surinaamsche Bank is the first beneficiary of a funding intervention by the World Bank into Suriname.

International Financial Corporation (IFC), a World Bank institution, recently signed a US$5 million project agreement with De Surinaamsche Bank (DSB) aimed at helping finance international trade and promoting local economic development.

DSB will receive the US$5 million trade credit line as an issuing bank under the IFC Global Trade Finance Program, or GTFP. The program supports trade in emerging markets by providing partial or full guarantees for individual trade transactions backed by IFC’s triple-A rating. By joining the GTFP, DSB will be able to expand trade-finance solutions to small and medium enterprises in key export and import sectors.

Established in 1865, De Surinaamsche Bank N.V. is the largest bank in Suriname. It has nine branches, more than 60 ATMs, and 371 employees.

“With IFC’s support, DSB will be able to grow its business and provide clients with new products and services to support their trade transactions in overseas markets,” said Sigmund Proeve, chief executive officer of DSB. “By sustaining local industries, our bank will have a fundamental role to play in promoting economic expansion for years to come.”

Jun Zhang, IFC Caribbean Regional Manager, said: “IFC’s first investment in Suriname will help local businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, connect with regional and global markets. Developing the country’s financial sector will be critical to ensure sustainable economic growth.”

Suriname, whose economy is dominated by agribusiness and extractive industries, became the 183rd member state of IFC in September 2011.

Since its inception in 2005, IFC’s award-winning GTFP has issued more than 11,000 guarantees totalling $17 billion to banks on trade-related payment obligations of its financial institution clients in emerging markets. Most significantly, in fiscal year 2011, 53 percent of the program’s total volume was to support trade in the world’s poorest countries, and 79 percent went to SMEs. The program includes more than 200 partner banks globally, including 60 banks across 22 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

IFC is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. It assists developing countries to achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilizing capital in the international financial markets. In fiscal 2011 its investments reached an all-time high of nearly US$19 billion. Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360. (View sample)