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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov
(202) 712-4320# 99-130
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Laura Gross
Monday, October 4, 1999WARSAW, POLAND - Today, Ambassador Harriett C. Babbitt, Deputy Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bank of Socio-Economic Initiatives (BISE) to promote private bank lending to make homes energy efficient. These loans will ease the burden of unnecessarily high energy costs to a larger numbers of Polish citizens.
Currently, owners of large co-ops encounter difficulties in seeking loans to finance energy-efficient improvements, like replacing old, leaky windows or installing new insulation. This agreement allows BISE to make such loans, which the owners will be able to pay off mostly by savings in energy costs. This project will also be an important tool for meeting Poland's newly enacted Thermomodernization Law, which requires substantial new investment to improve energy efficiency with reliance on the private sector. This law, developed with USAID assistance, encourages bank loans for projects that will reduce energy costs and reduce pollution.
The Development Credit Authority (DCA), which made today's agreement possible, is USAID's new risk-sharing credit tool. It helps jump-start the participation of the private banking sector in providing resources for economic development, particularly in places like Poland with a growing and vibrant banking sector. The new investments stimulated by the DCA program will strengthen the market in Poland for outside investment including US energy technology and equipment.
According to Ambassador Babbitt, "We see the use of loan guarantees and other credit enhancements under the DCA as a powerful and efficient development tool that when combined with other complementing donor mechanisms, will help the people of Poland now and in the future."
This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
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