The Export-Import Bank of Korea has announced that it plans to increase trade financing to 13.5 trillion won (US$13 bn) this year from last year's 11.5 trillion won.
The state-run bank also said it will also increase the loans to 15 trillion won and 16.5 trillion won, respectively, in 2006 and 2007.
The policy bank plans to extend 3.4 trillion won in loans to small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) this year, compared with 2.6 trillion won last year. Next year, the lender aims to increase the loans to smaller companies to 3.8 trillion won.
Loans from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDC), designed to help foreign countries, mostly developing nations, to improve their economies, will also increase to 420 billion won this year, up 53 per cent from last year's total.
Source: Korea Times
