EBRD loan to Akbank offers earthquake support

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a loan of up to $90 million to the Turkish private lender Akbank as part of its Türkiye Disaster Response Framework (DRF), launched in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes that hit the country's southeastern cities.

"Akbank will on-lend the funds to businesses and individuals directly affected by the Feb. 6 earthquakes that killed more than 50,000 people and caused widespread damage, helping those in the disaster-hit cities to reconstruct their lives and businesses, and expand their financial opportunities," the development bank said in a statement.

The loan to Akbank comes under the DRF, which was launched following the earthquakes, as an intermediated finance framework of up to 600 million euros for Turkish banks.

DRF is part of the bank's 1.5 billion euros overall earthquake response package.

"With this project, we continue our efforts to rebuild the economies in regions affected by the earthquakes. We are proud to provide funds to the region's people and companies through our long-standing and excellent partner Akbank to help rebuild their businesses and lives," said Francis Malige, managing director, head of financial institutions for the EBRD.

To date, the EBRD has invested more than 18 billion euros in various sectors of the Turkish economy, largely in the private sector.