IFC Advice to Key Lender Helping Develop Mortgage Market in Kyrgyz Republic
In Bishkek:
Kymbat Ybyshova
Phone (+996 312) 626 160
E-mail: KYbyshova@ifc.org
In Moscow:
Nezhdana Bukova
Phone (+7 495) 411 7555
E-mail: NBukova@ifc.org
Bishkek, June 18, 2009—IFC, a member
of the World Bank Group, is helping develop the mortgage sector in the
Kyrgyz Republic and increase access to home financing for rural citizens
by providing advisory assistance through the Central Asia Primary Mortgage
Market Development Project.
The initiative entails working with
Bai Tushum, one of the country’s leading microfinance institutions, to
improve the quality of the firm’s mortgage portfolio and upgrade its mortgage-lending
operations. About 60 percent of the people living in rural areas of the
Kyrgyz Republic could gain access to Bai Tushum’s housing finance solutions
as a result of the project.
IFC analyzed Bai Tushum’s mortgage-lending
practices and developed a set of recommendations on mortgage-lending development,
origination, underwriting, and servicing procedures tailored to the company’s
needs. IFC fashioned its recommendations to enable Bai Tushum’s mortgage-lending
transactions to conform with international best practices.
“Cooperation with IFC provided us with
the opportunity to have our mortgage-lending policies and operations reviewed
by highly qualified international experts,” said Gulnara Shamshieva, Bai
Tushum’s CEO. “The recommendations provided will be very useful in strengthening
our institutional capacity and expanding our mortgage portfolio.”
Victor Mints, IFC Project Manager responsible
for CAPMMDP, said, “We believe that the recommendations will not
only help Bai Tushum improve its mortgage-lending operations, but also
serve as a good example for other financial institutions in the country,
resulting in an increase in mortgage-lending volumes and access to housing
finance for local people.”
The advisory work conducted for Bai
Tushum is part of IFC’s strategy of helping the Kyrgyz government provide
access to mortgage financing for low- and middle-income citizens. IFC is
working on several initiatives in the country to develop a mortgage market
and strengthen the institutional capacity of local financial institutions.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group,
creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives.
We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting
private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory
and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. IFC’s new
investments totaled $16.2 billion in fiscal 2008, a 34 percent increase
over the previous year. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
About Bai Tushum
Bai Tushum was established in 2000 with
the support of the U.S.-based Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers
in Overseas Cooperative Assistance and CARITAS, a Swiss nongovernmental
organization. Bai Tushum provides microcredit services to private entrepreneurs,
traders, farmers, and micro and small agricultural enterprises using individual
and group lending methodologies. It has some 45,000 clients, with most
of its portfolio outside the capital, Bishkek. The company operates through
a regional network of seven branches and 35 sub-offices. For more information,
visit www.baitushum.kg.
|
