EBRD and Banca Intesa expand access to finance for businesswomen

Women-led businesses in Serbia will benefit from a new €8 million loan by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Banca Intesa for on-lending to local small and medium-sized enterprises led by women.

This is the fourth time the EBRD has provided finance to the Serbian lender under its flagship Women in Business programme. The initiative is supported by donor funds from Sweden and Luxembourg.

A leading bank in Serbia, Banca Intesa is a key promoter of women’s participation in the economy. To date, the bank has on-lent around €15 million in loans to women-led enterprises. The new loan will help Banca Intesa meet the growing demand by clients following the coronavirus crisis and will further support access to finance for female entrepreneurs.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Serbia. The Bank has invested more than €6 billion across 267 projects in the country to date. The EBRD is focusing on support for private-sector development, improvement of public utility services and on the overall transition towards a green economy.