Bank Capacity Building and Microfinance
Banks, professional associations, central banks, securities commissions and relevant line ministries. IFC is currently implementing capacity building projects for MI-BOSPO and Nova Banka (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Housing Finance The challenge: Although it is rapidly growing in Southern Europe, the housing finance market in the region is still a fraction of that in comparable economies. Financial institutions often do not have sufficient experience in carrying out mortgage-related lending operations, with differing industry standards and practices exacerbating the difficulties. Potential borrowers, similarly, are unaware or misinformed of the mortgage opportunities. The IFC approach: IFC's Housing Finance Program in Southern Europe is:
Companies, banks, professional associations, relevant line ministries. IFC is currently implementing a capacity building project in housing finance for BKT (Albania and collaborating with the Directorate of Housing of the Government of Albania on regulatory improvements. Sustainable Finance The challenge: In Southern Europe, the amount of energy used per unit GDP is 2-4 times that used in modern industrialized economies. Fuel and electricity prices are rising, and distribution networks that are old and under-capacity are creaking with the strain of economic development. In a world where climate change is increasingly at the forefront of many peoples' minds, the challenge in these transition economies of Southern Europe is to ensure that new investments in industry, residential accommodation, commercial and public buildings use the most energy efficient technologies that are economically viable. The IFC approach: IFC's Sustainable Finance Program in Southern Europe is:
Companies, banks and municipalities. IFC is currently implementing energy efficiency projects with EKI (Bosnia and Herzegovina), ProCredit (Serbia) and EFSE (Balkans). Donor: The Access to Finance programs are currently financed by IFC. Further funding is being sought to expand the activities. Contact info: Rolf Behrndt Senior Operations Officer Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra 86 11000 Belgrade Serbia Tel: +381 (0) 11 3023 750 Fax: +381 (0) 11 3023 740 Email: RBehrndt@ifc.org
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