Asian Development Bank offers $22.3 mln to Georgia’s Credo Bank

Credo’s long-term loans will particularly benefit women-headed households. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Agenda.ge, 18 Apr 2019 - 12:04, Tbilisi,Georgia

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a $22.3 million loan and $500,000 in a technical assistance grant to Georgia’s Credo Bank to launch new products including home improvement and mortgage loans to lower income households in rural areas and on the outskirts of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi.

Credo’s long-term loans will particularly benefit women-headed households, not only by improving living conditions but also by broadening rural income generation through the construction of homestays.

The technical assistance aims to improve Credo’s outreach to 1,300 remote village communities through fintech solutions covering payment, savings, and loan services, as well as financial literacy and entrepreneurship training through Credo’s academy services.

The ADB said that around 43% of Georgians live in rural areas and 27% in regional towns, with a vast number working in small enterprises or in subsistence farming.