The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Citi have extended their longstanding Global Trade Finance Liquidity Programme (GTLP) with a new four-year, US$1.2bn risk-sharing facility.

As part of the new facility, the IFC and Citi will each contribute US$600mn. The funding is expected to support emerging market trade flows worth over US$6bn by 2019.

Meant to boost trade growth in emerging markets, the GTLP was launched in 2009 and since then the IFC and Citi have financed total trade volumes of US$20bn, with around US$4.2bn in International Development Association countries and US$7.1bn in low-income and lower middle-income countries. This was done through 3,368 trade transactions performed by 163 emerging market issuing banks in 40 countries.

“Citi’s partnership with the IFC has been a tremendous success, helping to stimulate the recovery and growth of global trade in emerging markets,” says Anurag Chaudhary, global head of distribution for Citi’s treasury and trade solutions (TTS).

“Through our collaboration with IFC – as well as other development and export credit agency partners around the globe – we are firmly committed to restoring the flow of trade and commerce financing around the world; and to helping emerging market economies play a more significant role within global trade.”

Marcos Brujis, IFC director of the financial institutions group, adds: “As the availability of global trade finance continues to decline, IFC is committed to working with Citi to find innovative ways to help expand trade finance flows in the developing world – and the Global Trade Liquidity Programme is one such successful effort.”