Financial intermediaries: Do economic, environmental and social benefits lie behind the big numbers? - EBRD AGM Issue Paper

In order to prevent the collapse of the banking sector in central and eastern Europe following the outbreak of economic crisis conditions in autumn 2008, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has provided a large number of loans to private banks in the region. Most of the projects have aimed to provide crisis support via these financial intermediaries (FIs) for small- and medium-sized enterprises with some aimed specifically at energy efficiency and small-scale renewable projects.

Mirroring lending trends at other public development institutions such as the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the International Finance Corporation, the EBRD's FI lending is now reckoned to account for roughly 40 percent of the bank's total lending volumes. Yet even though this form of lending is taking on ever greater importance at the EBRD, next to no concrete details about what it is achieving and who is benefiting from it exist for the public.