Turkish Vakifbank secures 1 bln USD syndication loan

ISTANBUL (A.A) - 29.03.2011 - Turkey's Vakifbank announced on Tuesday that it had borrowed 1 billion U.S. dollars in syndication loan.
The syndication loan, which is the highest amount in the bank's history, was provided from 34 banks from 16 countries under the coordination of financial services provider WestLB AG.
The loan comes in two tranches in 192.5 million USD and 573.5 million Euro with a maturity of one year and the total cost is LIBOR/EURIBOR+1.10%.
Commenting on the issue, Vakifbank's Director General Suleyman Kalkan said that the loan showed the confidence in Vakifbank and Turkey.
Kalkan noted that the loan would be used in financing exports and SMEs.
Regarding Vakifbank's operations in the north of Iraq, Kalkan said the bank's new branch in Irbil would be inaugurated by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 
Turkish state-run lender Vakifbank announced a net profit of 1.15 billion Turkish lira (731.8 million USD) for 2010.
Vakifbank enjoyed a 29 percent growth in loans (56.2 billion TL) last year and 46 percent rise in total personal loans that reached 15 billion TL.
The bank also announced last week that it had decided to move its headquarters to Istanbul from capital Ankara.