IFC Supports Mortgage Lending in the Kyrgyz Republic

Bishkek, August 2008— IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will advise Bai Tushum, one of the Kyrgyz Republic’s leading microfinance institutions, on ways to strengthen its mortgage lending operations. Bai Tushum has been providing mortgage loans since 2004 and is working to improve its mortgage portfolio.

IFC’s experts will analyze Bai Tushum’s mortgage lending and help establish an environmental management system aimed at making these operations more sustainable. IFC Executive Vice President and CEO Lars Thunell and Gulnara Shamshieva, Bai Tushum’s CEO, signed the advisory services agreement in a ceremony today.

Shamshieva of Bai Tushum said, “Cooperation with IFC is important for us to help people change their living conditions. We hope it will strengthen our institutional capacity and enable us to expand our mortgage portfolio.”

Thunell said, “IFC wants to help Bai Tushum make housing more affordable for people in the Kyrgyz Republic. We are optimistic that our support will strengthen Bai Tushum’s mortgage business, making it a model for other Kyrgyz financial institutions.”

The advisory work with Bai Tushum project is part of IFC’s strategy of helping the Kyrgyz government provide housing solutions to its low- and middle- income citizens. IFC is working on several initiatives to improve housing policies in the country and to strengthen the institutional capacity of local financial institutions.