Garanti Bank signs a 55 million Euro loan agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), member of World Bank Group, with the purpose of funding small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and sustainable energy efficiency projects, aiming to generate growth and resilience to climate change.

This is the seventh agreement signed by Garanti Group Romania with IFC in the past seven years. Together with this line, since 2012, IFC has granted a total of 157 million Euro to Garanti, with the purpose of supporting local SMEs.

“We believe it is important to pave the way and support SMEs as well as companies that develop energy efficient projects or those that have adopted technologies based on renewable energy. We are, thereby, honored to sign this agreement with IFC and reinforce our long-term commitment to Romania”, stated Ufuk Tandoğan, CEO Garanti Bank.

Romania is highly exposed to floods and earthquakes, with past natural disasters resulting in billions of dollars in direct damage. Institutional reforms and recent investments have improved emergency response capacity, but the potential impact of disasters on infrastructure and the most vulnerable populations remains extremely high. As the climate warms, the severity, intensity, and frequency of storms, floods, droughts, wildfires, and extreme temperatures are increasing. Thus, there is an urgent need to build resilience against the impact of increasingly severe climate events.