Dutch dev bank invests $50m in Brac

Dutch development bank FMO has invested $50 million in Brac to accelerate innovations that impact the lives of underserved and marginalised people.

The five-year facility will be fully earmarked to the financing of the microfinance portfolio, confirmed Tushar Bhowmik, chief financial officer at Brac, in a press release issued by Brac yesterday.

"We are delighted to receive this investment from FMO. It is a milestone achievement for the microfinance sector as a foreign bank is directly investing in a microfinance institution in Bangladesh for the first time."

"The investment will help improve the livelihoods of people who need access to affordable financial solutions, especially in marginalised communities, in a more efficient way," he added.

Brac is the market leader for the microfinance sector in Bangladesh with a microfinance loan portfolio of $3.2 billion serving more than 7.4 million customers, among whom 85 per cent are women, in more than 69,000 villages.