IFC's trade finance activities double

The IFC's global trade finance programme has doubled the volume of guarantees issued and the number of participating banks and countries covered during 2007.

The dollar amount of guarantees IFC issued under the programme reached US$1.15bn, representing 787 guarantees, covering 1,500 underlying transactions. Around half of these guarantees were supporting trade with banks in Sub-Saharan Africa, and a third supported south-south trade.

Examples of trade transactions supported by guarantees issued during 2007 include the export of traffic signal equipment from Thailand to Cambodia, rubber processing equipment from Malaysia to Liberia, tractors from China to Mongolia or pharmaceuticals from India to Yemen.