A Myanmar Social Enterprise, Proximity Designs and Yoma Bank Signed an Innovative Funding Agreement

Yangon, Myanmar – Sep 5 2017. Proximity Designs and Yoma Bank signed an innovative back-to-back funding agreement for 7.3 billion MMK. Proximity Designs runs their micro-finance business unit, Proximity Finance, currently keeping a loan book of 20.5 billion MMK and 78,000 active clients. Yoma Bank is one of Myanmar’s largest banks with over 3,000 staff and 72 branches nationwide. The loan agreement allows Proximity Designs to fully hedge U.S. dollar funding attracted overseas, on the back of which a multiple of Myanmar Kyat is lent locally by Yoma Bank.

The practice of a Myanmar bank lending on a semi-secured basis to microfinance companies is unprecedented to date. The funding made available through this pioneering deal enables Proximity Designs to further grow their microfinance business and will enable twenty-eight thousands of farmers and other rural based entrepreneurs to obtain credit to manage the working capital flow of their respective businesses. "Yoma Bank is proud to support the extension of credit to Myanmar's unbanked population through this innovative partnership with Proximity Designs. The development impact of this funding reflects Yoma Bank's commitment to support an inclusive financial system and our core value as The Responsible Bank,” said the Advisor to the Chairman and CEO of Yoma Bank, Mr. Hal Bosher.

Savoeung Chann, CEO of Proximity Finance, said; “We are delighted to announce this innovative agreement with Yoma Bank to support the growth of Proximity Finance. We hope that this milestone facility will enable us to increase our reach to 28,000 new farmer households across Myanmar and deliver more affordable products for our clients. We would also like to acknowledge the invaluable support from Yoma Bank, Central Bank and FRD in making this landmark deal happen”.