ADB boosts SME support

MANILA, June 11 (Xinhua): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday approved 350 million US dollars in additional headroom to further expand the scope and impact of its Trade Finance Programme (TFP).

Supporting more than 12,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing Asia since 2009, TFP helps reduce market gaps for trade finance.

The ADB said the additional financing will increase TFP's limit to 1.35 billion US dollars, keeping up with the increasing market demand. The growth is over 50 per cent in 2017.

TFP is able to support trade financing well above its limit over the course of a year.

It does not breach the limit at any one point in time by recycling transactions with short maturities and leveraging cofinancing.

"The increased headroom will help us meet the huge surge we've seen in market demand for our trade finance products," said Steven Beck, head of Trade and Supply Chain Finance of ADB.

"It is an exciting time for the team, which is known for its excellent client services, including transaction processing in 24 to 48 hours," Beck said.