Investment to aid low earners

US-BASED Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) yesterday signed a deal to provide a $5 million long-term loan to Thaneakea Phum (Cambodia) Ltd (TPC), a local microfinance institution (MFI), to support TPC’s expansion of its home improvement loans for low-income Cambodians. Fernanda Lima, director of US-based socially responsible investment management company Developing World Markets (DWM) and chair of the TPC board of directors, said this investment will increase financial access for the under-served, low-income segment of the population, while directly improving the livelihoods of rural Cambodians. She said the seven-year-term of the OPIC loan would allow TPC to create home improvement products with a longer timeframe than standard working capital loans. ... OPIC has committed over $700 million to microfinance projects, which have supported 125 MFIs in 35 countries. ...

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