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IFC wants banks to lend to energy efficiency projects

Star Business Report
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank, is discussing with major Bangladeshi banks the use of energy efficiency as one of the criteria for commercial lending.
Speaking at a meeting with journalists in Dhaka yesterday Rachel Kyte, director, environment and social development department of IFC, said the move would help the banks and its clients understand the financial advantages of energy efficiency
Kyte said such a technique was based on sound commercial logic, as there was clear evidence that companies that prioritised fuel efficiency were more sustainable and a better risk for lenders.
“We're talking to our local partner banks so that they lend to companies for energy efficiency projects," Kyte said.
“Today's banks need to understand energy efficiency and sustainable development for the sake of their businesses," Kyte said.
IFC has partnerships with 12 local banks and financial institutions, including Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd, Dhaka Bank, BRAC Bank, Prime Bank and United Leasing Company Limited. These banks are likely to receive IFC loans aimed at developing energy efficiency financing for private sector.
"It is not that Bangladesh is apart from the global economy. You can be at the back of the bus or the front of the bus. I'm sure Bangladeshi bankers would want to be at the front,” she said.
Kyte said the IFC is also talking to Bangladesh Bank, which can play an important role to sensitise the commercial banks on the issue.
Asked if such environmental concerns could be balanced with the industrialisation of the Bangladesh, she said the country could not avoid having to take environmental issues onboard.
She said Bangladesh had environmental regulations and the present government had made a number of commitments to enforcing them. Bangladesh Bank had also told commercial banks that they should not lend to companies that did not comply with environmental laws, she added.
She also pointed to the advances made in other developing countries such as China, Brazil and India.
She said: “Banks here do not need to be experts on the issue, just to understand it". The task of the
IFC was to ensure that expertise was available in the market.
Asked about Bangladeshi's energy policy, she said it was important to find the right mix of sources. “Renewable energy is important for development," she said, adding that the country needed to look to distributed energy solutions and not just putting everything through a national power grid.
On the controversial Fulbari coal mine proposal, she said it was a matter for the government and that social and environmental issues had to be considered along with the energy needs of the country.
Kyte also said that Bangladesh would be part ofa pilot project undertaken by the IFC to help companies adapt to the risks posed to their business and assets by climate change.