Washington-based International Finance Corp (IFC) on Monday announced that it has provided a $150 million to private sector lender YES Bank to expand the lender's access to women-owned small businesses.

The funding by IFC — the private investment arm of the World Bank — includes loan from its own account of $60 million, $45 million syndicated loan from Doha Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Bank Muscat, and AKA Frankfurt, and $45 million through the IFC Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Programme, press statement by IFC said. 

IFC Director, South Asia, Serge Devieux said, “Increasing financial access to micro, small, and medium enterprises directly supports job creation, a top priority for IFC in India.”

YES Bank said it will use the loan to increase its lending to small businesses in India's low-income states, including in the north-east region of India. The co-lending Portfolio Programme is a new syndication platform created by IFC that allows institutional investors to passively participate in the organisation's future senior loan portfolio.

YES Bank Managing Director & CEO Rana Kapoor said, “IFC's funding will add much-needed resources to YES Bank's lending program for micro, small, and medium enterprises, helping scale up our loan portfolio for this segment."