Lebanon’s Fransabank has joined the IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program.

The scheme offers confirming banks partial or full guarantees against underlying trade instruments and covers the payment risk of participating issuing banks. The program allows issuing banks to increase the volume and value of trade transactions with enhanced tenors and access to competitive pricing.

IFC provides guarantee coverage of bank risk in emerging markets, allowing recipients to expand their trade finance transactions within an extensive network of countries and banks and to enhance their trade finance coverage.

“The increasing number of participant banks in the Global Trade Finance Program paves the way for countries like Lebanon to increase their share of global trade through this wide network of correspondent banks,” says Michael Essex, IFC’s acting director for the Middle East and North Africa.