Start date:  September 1, 2007          End date:  September 1, 2014 
Guarantee Facility: $9 million in loans
Implementers:  UNIBANKA and NLB Leasing

Objectives

The SME Development Credit Authority facility, the first of its kind in Macedonia, provides access to working and investment capital for companies that want to expand their operations or market opportunities. The SME DCA facility is improving access to capital, which is a major obstacle to the growth of private sector SMEs in Macedonia.

Components

Loan portfolio guarantee program: A seven-year, $9 million facility through which USAID provides a 50 percent partial guarantee of the loan amounts, thus sharing the risk with partner banks.  Includes a disbursement period of two years and maximum loan tenor of five years.

Achievements/Impact

Export-led growth is constrained by banks’ misperceptions about the risks associated with lending to SMEs and the resulting over-collateralization requirements they impose in order to minimize their risk.  With this DCA, USAID is mobilizing private financing for targeted industries. The short-term result is increased SME competitiveness and value-added exports. The longer-term results will help establish SMEs’ creditworthiness and demonstrate to the local market the financial viability of targeted industry supply chains. To date, both financial institutions have issued over 106 loans to 56 companies in various sectors, for a total amount of over $6,800,000.

Contact Information

Contact at USAID: Margareta Lipkovska Atanasov, COR: mlipkovska@usaid.gov

Marija Tanasoska, NLB Leasing: marija.tanasoska@nlblizing.com.mk

Biljana Panovska, UNIBanka: biljana.panovska@unibank.com.mk