One of Ethiopia’s three state owned banks, Ethiopian Development Bank (EDB) extended a total of 3.2 billion Birr loan in the first six months of the current fiscal year to agriculture and manufacturing.

DBE, according to Ethiopian News Agency (ENA), focuses on providing loans to exporting modern agricultural development, agro-processing and manufacturing industries.

Commenting on the matter, the bank’s president Isayas Bahre, said out of the entire money loaned, 63 percent of it was extended to manufacturing while 27 percent was for agriculture. The rest 10 percent went to agro-processing.

According to ENA, 70 percent of the loan was given to local investors while the rest 30 went to foreigners.

The president noted, DBE’s capacity of annual loan provision has grown to eight billion Birr from a mere of one Billion Birr. Some 1.6 billion Birr loan was reimbursed during the first six months, he furthered.

Nonetheless, the bank has failed to meet its target during the first six months of the fiscal year. It planned to extend 4.5 billion Birr loan yet it met only 72 percent of this target. The bank attributed this to the fact that applicants failed to meet the requirements of the bank.

90 percent of Ethiopian Development Bank’s loan is extended for the private sector and the remaining 10 percent to public enterprises.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency