Germany backs bank for SMEs

MANILA, Philippines - The German government is supporting the establishment of a bank catering to small and medium-sized enterprises in the Philippines.

The establishment of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development or CARD SME Bank will help strengthen small and medium enterprises and facilitate long term access to financial services for this sector.

The project which started in 2012 and will continue throughout 2014, benefitted from funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development amounting to 300,000 Euro (around P17 million). It is implemented through the Sparkassenstiftung für internationale Kooperation (Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation – SBFIC) which supports financial institutions in promoting a sustainable economic and social development by offering banking services that are tailored to the needs of the target groups.