This pilot project is five years in the making by a working group that includes the International Finance Corporation, Government of Malta, Central Bank of Malta, Export Import Bank of India and the Commonwealth Secretariat.
The mechanism behind the scheme is in the form of a guarantee facility that will encourage international banks to offer easier access to trade finance to financial institutions in the small states by reducing their credit risk and as a result helping them diversify their economies.
This trade facility is administered under MGI’s portfolio, and could see the release of $100 million of incremental trade finance over a three-year period to any of the 31 Commonwealth nations classified as small states.
Pilot countries selected for the Spring 2018 launch included the Bahamas, Botswana, Brunei, Dominica, Fiji, Mauritius, Namibia and Seychelles.
