LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Thursday it had
increased its investments to a record 11 billion euros in 2020
to help companies across its region mitigate the economic hit
from the coronavirus pandemic.
In its annual operational statement, the development bank
said Turkey overtook Egypt to reclaim the top spot as the single
biggest recipient country, receiving 1.7 billion euros in
investments of which just over half went to local banks.
The outlook for Turkey had generally improved, said Jurgen
Rigterink, the EBRD's vice president.
"When you look at Turkey, with the change of central bank
governor, with the change of minister of finance it seems that
the confidence is back and that is particularly visible in the
strength of the Turkish lira," said Rigterink.
The EBRD focussed last year on providing emergency
short-term liquidity, working capital, trade finance and
restructuring for its existing clients affected by the crisis.
The bank also recorded a small profit of around 100 million
euros in 2020, according to Rigterink, down from a net profit of
1.4 billion euros in 2019. The EBRD is due to publish its full
financial results in a few weeks time.
Majority owned by G7 top economic powers, the EBRD invests
in 38 economies including central and eastern Europe as well as
Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco in Africa.
2020 2019
Annual Bank Investment (ABI) (€ billion) 11.0 10.09
Number of projects 411 452
ABI by region (€ billion)
Central Asia 1.15 1.38
Central Europe and the Baltic states 1.41 1.47
Cyprus and Greece 0.93 0.64
Eastern Europe and the Caucasus 1.93 2.06
South-eastern Europe 1.76 1.71
Southern and eastern Mediterranean 2.13 1.85
Turkey 1.68 1.00
(Reporting by Karin Strohecker; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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