U.S. Government commits $40 million loan to support small businesses and empower Sri Lankan women.

The U.S. Government committed a $40 million loan to Sri Lanka’s SDB bank to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and women entrepreneurs. The loan from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the U.S. Government’s development bank, aims to support private sector investment and economic growth in Sri Lanka. DFC partners with the private sector to finance solutions to the most critical challenges facing developing countries, including in the Indo-Pacific region.

This loan represents the DFC’s first investment in Sri Lanka since its launch in 2019. DFC is a modernized, consolidated agency that brings together the capabilities of the former Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Development Credit Authority, while introducing new and innovative financial products to better bring private capital to developing countries.

The SDB bank will use the $40 million to provide roughly 1,450 loans, ranging from 5 to 10 million LKR each, to SMEs throughout Sri Lanka. At least forty percent of those loans will be granted to businesses that are owned by women, led by women, or provide a product or service that empowers women, supporting DFC’s 2X Women’s Initiative. This support will bolster Sri Lanka’s post-pandemic economic recovery and empower hundreds of local women, a key development goal for both the United States and Sri Lanka.

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