EBRD Extends $75 Million Trade Finance Facility to Iraq's Al Mansour Bank

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced it is providing up to $75 million (equivalent to €65 million) in trade finance to Iraq's Al Mansour Bank for Investment. Delivered under the EBRD's Trade Facilitation Programme, the facility comprises guarantees and cash advances aimed at reducing commercial and political payment risks in international transactions. Al Mansour Bank, established in 2006 and majority owned by Qatar National Bank Group, plans to use the funds to expand trade financing for small and medium-sized enterprises in agriculture, construction, manufacturing and consumer goods.

The deal comes less than a year after the EBRD began official operations in Iraq in September 2025. For Iran's markets, the story matters because it shows European development finance keeps expanding formal banking channels with Iraq, Iran's western neighbor and a major non-oil export market, precisely the kind of correspondent-banking access Iran's own banks remain locked out of under sanctions, a gap that could weigh on Iranian exporters' competitiveness in the Iraqi market over time.