[China Co-Financing Fund] IDB approves $6 million loan from CHC for Banco Economico MSME Financing Partnership

[China Co-Financing Fund] IDB approves $6 million loan from CHC for Banco Economico MSME Financing Partnership On September 18, 2013, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a private sector loan (PSL) for the Banco Economico MSME Financing Partnership, through which IDB would provide $12 million from its ordinary capital (Loan 2989A/OC-BO, "A loan"), and the People's Bank of China would provide $6 million (Loan 2989/CH-BO) via the China Co-Financing Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean.

However, the IDB lists this project as cancelled, and it does not appear a loan contract was ever finalized. The IDB refers to this project as ‘BO-L1094 : Banco Economico MSME Financing Partnership’.

The project intended to increase access to financing to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in Bolivia, with special focus on women-led MSMEs. Banco Económico in particular was chosen, in part, because of its focus on MSME lending and clients.

The bank's MSME portfolio was primarily concentrated in commerce and services, though it also included some lending to construction, manufacturing, and agriculture and livestock sectors, indicating the project would likely have provided funding to multiple sectors if it had been finished.