The IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, together with Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi-UFJ (BTMU) have agreed to provide a US$60mn trade financing line to the Export-Import Bank of India (India Exim).

The facility will help India Exim support export-oriented small and medium enterprises, which have suffered reduced access to trade finance as a result of the global financial crisis.

The transaction is India Exim’s first funded transaction with commercial bank participation since the onset of the financial crisis. It will help the export credit agency (ECA) fulfill its key role of supporting India’s exporters.

This is the first time that the IFC has provided credit to an ECA to help finance trade flows, as until now, its focus has been on supporting banks via its global trade liquidity programme. The new facility is the first under the IFC’s export credit agency initiative launched in May with the emerging market export credit agency association, G-Nexid.