The two-year joint initiative, worth the equivalent of US$31 billion (S$47.9 billion), will include equity and debt financing, credit lines and risk insurance, the three groups said in a joint statement.

'The largest multilateral investors and lenders in Central and Eastern Europe - the EBRD, the EIB Group, and the World Bank Group - have pledged to provide up to 24.5 billion euros to support the banking sectors in the region and to fund lending to businesses hit by the global economic crisis,' they said.

'This initiative complements national crisis responses and will deploy rapid, large-scale and coordinated financial assistance from the International Financial Institutions to support lending to the real economy through private banking groups, in particular to small- and medium-sized enterprises.'

The EBRD will provide up to six billion euros for the financial sector in the region for debt and equity financing for banks and businesses, and trade finance.

The EIB will provide 11 billion euros of lending facilities, while the World Bank will provide support totalling about 7.5 billion euros.

'The response takes into account the different macroeconomic circumstances in, and financial pressures on countries in eastern Europe, acknowledging the diversity of challenges stemming from the global financial retrenchment,' the groups added. -- AFP