Staff correspondent :<\/p>\n
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is<\/p>\n
investing US$30 million in Pran Dairy Limited (PDL) and Habiganj Agro Limited
\n(HAL), both part of the PRAN Group, a leading player of the food and beverage
\nindustry (F&B) in the country to support severely impacted businesses-
\nespecially those relying on imports for raw materials.<\/p>\n
The aim is to improve the resilience of the food processing market while
\ncreating jobs, fostering gender diversity and strengthening the economy.<\/p>\n
This is the first loans of IFC’s USD term to be used for working capital
\npurposes in Bangladesh, which will enable PDL and HAL to sustain operations,
\nincreasing exports and preserving over 30,000 jobs, said a press release here
\ntoday.<\/p>\n
The IFC will further support PRAN Group to improve participation of women as
\nwell as inclusion in their workplace through relevant policies and practices.
\nThe F&B sector is a key pillar of Bangladesh’s economy.<\/p>\n
The food processing industry accounts for approximately 13 percent of the
\nmanufacturing production value and employs 19 percent of the industrial
\nmanufacturing workforce with a projected compound annual growth rate of 12
\npercent.<\/p>\n
However, the current paucity of foreign exchange, higher energy prices, and
\npower shortages in the country have disrupted the import of raw materials
\nwhile constraining local commercial banks’ lending ability.<\/p>\n
Against this backdrop, IFC’s longer-term US dollar financing will help
\nimprove access to foreign exchange, supporting Bangladeshi companies to
\nnavigate the crisis.<\/p>\n
Uzma Chowdhury, director (Finance) of PRAN-RFL Group said, “As a net
\nimporter, regular access to US dollars is critical. But given the prevailing
\nshortage, it has been difficult for us to access USD funds for working
\ncapital in a timely manner. By providing scarcely available US dollar working
\ncapital, IFC will help ensure the long-term stability of the company’s
\noperations and allow us to contribute to the country’s economic stability.”<\/p>\n
As part of its advisory services, IFC will also support PRAN Group to develop
\nthe company’s smallholder sourcing supply chain in Bangladesh and identify
\nopportunities to decarbonize its agro-processing operations, among others.<\/p>\n
Martin Holtmann, IFC country manager for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal said,
\n“Reiterating our commitment to supporting clients during a crisis, IFC’s
\nfinancing aims to ease the current lack of access to foreign exchange while
\nenabling private sector growth in Bangladesh.”<\/p>\n
“We are optimistic it will help improve food security while prioritizing
\nsupport for strategically important industries through innovative solutions.
\nBy backing PRAN Group, IFC will also contribute to diversifying Bangladesh’s
\nexport base, key to creating jobs, expanding market opportunities, and
\nenhancing economic resilience,” Holtmann added.<\/p>\n
Since 2010, IFC has invested over US$3.8 billion to help the private sector
\ngrow in Bangladesh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Staff correspondent : The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is investing US$30 million in Pran Dairy Limited (PDL) and Habiganj Agro Limited (HAL), both part of the PRAN Group, a leading player of the food and beverage industry (F&B) in the country to support severely impacted businesses- especially those relying on imports for raw materials. The aim is to improve the resilience of the food processing market while creating jobs, fostering gender diversity and strengthening the economy. This is the first loans of IFC’s USD term to be used for working<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_5980380192037842_108390337697511":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyenglishtimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyenglishtimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyenglishtimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyenglishtimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyenglishtimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7063"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyenglishtimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7066,"href":"https:\/\/dailyenglishtimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7063\/revisions\/7066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyenglishtimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyenglishtimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyenglishtimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyenglishtimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}