Resona Bank has received a US$50mn credit line from the Japanese Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC).

The finance will be used to provide medium and long-term loans to Japanese SMEs, who will in turn use it to fund overseas trade.

The funding is part of a JBIC initiative to capitalise on increasing consumer demand in emerging markets. JBIC says in a written statement that it will continue to support the Japanese banks which have the closest links to the country’s SMEs.