September 04, 2007	Tuesday	Sha'aban 21, 1428

LAHORE, Sept 3: ABN Amro plans to lend Rs500 million market rates to micro-finance institutions to support the micro-finance market in Pakistan.

“The amount will be increased to Rs2 billion later on,” bank’s chief executive officer Naveed Khan told reporters at a news conference on Monday.

The call for the conference was given to announce formal re-branding of branches of the Prime Commercial Bank, which ABN Amro has acquired for $230 million.

In terms of rupee, the bank paid Rs54 per share to acquire 96.4 per cent shareholding in the Prime Commercial Bank, which is its first acquisition in Asia. With the acquisition, ABN Amro becomes the second largest foreign bank operating in Pakistan. Mr Khan said his bank was committed to Pakistan and its economy, which he described to be very lucrative for the banking sector.