EIF signs guarantee agreements with six Spanish banks to support SMEs
Xinhua, October 1, 2015 Adjust font size:
The European Investment Fund (EIF) and six Spanish banks have signed guarantee agreements to facilitate finance access for Spanish medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), EIF said in a statement on Thursday.
The guarantee agreements will allow the six banks to provide 4 billion euros (about 4.47 billion U. S. dollars) of new loans to SMEs in Spain over the next two years.
The EIF said these agreements are expected to benefit up to 40,000 SMEs and start-ups in need of finance by providing a 50 percent guarantee on each loan and by lowering the interest rates charged by banks.
These are the first SME Initiative transactions in Europe, according to the EIF, part of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group.
The SME Initiative is a joint financial instrument of the European Commission, EIB Group and Member States which aims at stimulating SME financing by providing partial risk cover for SME loan portfolios originated by financial entities.
Spain was the first country to implement this new joint EU initiative, committing to contribute an amount of 800 million euros out of its European Structural and Investment Funds. Endit