Strengthening Afghanistan’s Financial Intermediation

The objective of the Strengthening Afghanistan's Financial Intermediation Project for Afghanistan is to strengthen institutional capacity for financial stability and to enhance access to finance for micro, small and medium enterprises. The Project has seven components. 1. Strengthening Credit Guarantee Fund component objective is to incentivize greater financial intermediation towards Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Afghanistan through risk-sharing and technical assistance implemented by Afghan Credit Guarantee Foundation (ACGF). 1.1. Supporting the Expansion of the Credit Guarantee Fund subcomponent will expand the ACGF currently committed capital stock and facilitate further growth of partial credit guarantees and increased Participating Financial Institution (PFI) lending to MSMEs, including women owned/operated businesses, thus also mobilizing private capital for MSMEs. 1.2. Technical assistance to ACGF and PFIs subcomponent will be implemented by ACGF and will support the provision of technical assistance (TA) to strengthen ACGF’s operations, including its local subsidiary - SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) Client Support Afghanistan LLC (SCSA), and PFIs. 2. SME Matching Grants Program component will support SMEs with fixed capital and working capital costs for COVID-19 adaptation and to strengthen the pipeline of bankable firms and demand for banking services. 2.1. Matching Grants to SMEs subcomponent will fund the matching portion of the grants to beneficiary SMEs for fixed capital and working capital costs in close alignment with other ongoing programs. 2.2. Grant Administration and Technical Assistance to SMEs subcomponent will finance required program costs and technical assistance support to beneficiary SMEs aimed at increasing their capacity to productively absorb matching grants. 3. Strengthening Deposit Insurance component will support establishment and implementation of a credible and explicit DIS for deposit taking financial...