Tisa Community Finance (TCF) has signed an agreement with the Credit Guarantee Corporation Limited (CGC) to enable small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customers of TCF to have access to credit guarantee support.

TCF is a licensed financial institution focused on providing financial services and products to the retail and commercial segment, including SMEs. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Teachers Savings and Loan Society Ltd.

The signing of the agreement comes as TCF is preparing to commence its operations as a commercial bank.

Chief Executive Officer of TCF Mr. Sunil Pokharel said, “ TCF is on the verge of launching its operations as a commercial bank and this agreement shows our commitment in the micro and SME (MSME) lending space. Such guaranteed support will play a crucial role in growing our MSME portfolio and will also provide a safety net for the financial institution.”

He added that he was optimistic that this agreement will help grow TCFs SME portfolio.

TCF is reviewing its current existing SME products and will in the coming months also announce new additional products for micro and small businesses.

Under this agreement, CGC will provide credit guarantees to TCF enabling TCF to extend credit to SMEs.

Chief Executive Officer of CGC, Mr. Dominic Sikakau said he was pleased to sign the agreement with TCF as this is part of the Government’s objective to provide access to finance for MSMEs and drive economic growth in PNG.

TCF now makes 13 Financial Institutions who are partnering with the CGC to provide access to credit for SMEs in PNG.