ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: IFC, a member of the World Bank group, and JPMorgan, jointly launched an innovative trade finance structure in Asia and the Pacific to help facilitate and boost trade activities in the region. The finance trade advance, a component of the IFC global trade finance programme, provides a cost-effective pre-export and post-import financing to banks, said an IFC press release here on Wednesday.

The trade finance structure combines several trade transactions into a single trade facility and provides an innovative approach to raising funds through risk-mitigated avenues, it said, adding it was also flexible and could be easily replicated in other regions.

Habib Bank Limited will be the first to benefit from this solution. It has raised a $55 million trade advance to support its corporate clients international trade activities, the press release said and added that this would help the bank expand its financing options as trade flows in Pakistan continue to grow.—APP