HDFC Bank Secures USD 500 Million from IFC for Women-Focused Lending

The statement said even though the non-banks have a deeper reach and serve two-thirds of the microfinance market, banks extensive reach and lower funding costs can be leveraged to extend microloans to women.

HDFC Bank on Friday said it has raised USD 500 million from IFC for onlending to underserved women borrowers. The country's largest private sector lender will extend finance for income generation, fostering financial inclusion and socio-economic growth, as per an official statement. It will extend the microloans to self-help groups and joint liability groups of women enrolled under the Sustainable Livelihoods Initiative (SLI) of the lender.

HDFC Bank's group head for Treasury, Arup Rakshit, said this is a longer duration credit facility which has been availed by the lender, and it will help in boosting the bank's efforts in empowering women. The statement said even though the non-banks have a deeper reach and serve two-thirds of the microfinance market, banks' extensive reach and lower funding costs can be leveraged to extend microloans to women. ''Access to financial services is key to empowering women and strengthening the economy,'' IFC's regional director for South Asia Imad Fakhoury said.

Over the last 20 years, IFC (International Finance Corporation) has made 650 microfinance investments totalling USD 6.2 billion, the statement said.

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