USAID Enables Nachala to Expand Micro-Lending
On July 26, USAID signed a four-year portable guarantee agreement with the micro-lending cooperative Nachala. The guarantee agreement will enable Nachala to seek financing from local and international financial institutions on favorable conditions and to meet not only the increasing needs for investment capital, but the demand for working capital from small and medium-sized businesses in Bulgaria. The maximum cumulative disbursement is $1,500,000 and the level of guarantee coverage is 50 percent.
USAID has a longstanding collaboration with Nachala. Since 1999, USAID support has enabled the cooperative to extend 15,000 loans for a value of $40 million to small and medium-sized businesses which, in turn, helped to create or sustain more than 69,000 jobs.
After the closing of the USAID Mission in 2008, Nachala Cooperative will require additional financial resources to continue increasing its micro-lending over the subsequent five years. The USAID guarantee will help Nachala meet the needs of hundreds of new clients who will have access to credit, including micro-entrepreneurs and small business start-ups.
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| USAID Mission Director Michael Fritz (right) and Nachala Chairman Petar Arnaudov (left) signed the guarantee on July 26 at Grand Hotel Sofia. |
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