* Ecuador’s national development bank, Corporación Financiera Nacional (CFN), has announced that it has concluded negotiations to receive US$300m in inter-bank loans from the World Bank. These funds will be distributed through private banks to provide credits for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses, and for funding of projects to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The CFN said that the loan “demonstrates multilateral organisations’ trust in the Ecuadorean government and in the CFN,” and said that it would “broaden opportunities for the country’s productive sectors”.