Armenian microfinance bank Inecobank is set to receive a loan of $10 million through a joint agreement with German development finance institution Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH (DEG) and Austrian development bank Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB) in an effort to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Armenia.

“SME are often too small for commercial banks and too big for micro-finance institutions. This financing gap needs to be closed,” said Holger Rothenbusch, Head of DEG’s Asia / Europe Division. Inecobank CEO Avetis Baloyan said, “Small and medium sized enterprises are the key and dynamic players of the private sector and this joint loan will be used for financing the SME businesses and helping them to expand their business.”

Inecobank provides a range of banking services with the aim of fostering the growth of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. As of March 2011, Inecobank reported to the US-based nonprofit Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) a gross loan portfolio of USD 112 million, a return on assets of 2.97 percent and a return on equity of 13.76 percent.