A credit line of up to half a billion euros made available to Cassa depositi e prestiti to support small and medium-sized businesses and business networks. This is the most recent initiative (but it won't be the last) taken this week in Italy by the European Investment Bank in the context of a more general strategy to relaunch the economy, and in particular of smaller companies. That is, those that belong to the sector traditionally most capable of generating new employment, particularly in times when the crisis bites the hardest.
The agreement, signed on Tuesday 13 May by EIB Vice-President Dario Scannapieco and CDP General Manager Matteo Del Fante, provides that the new credit line will be used by the Cassa to help finance advanced projects for a portion of medium and small businesses, and for another part (whose total amount will presumably be less significant), from business networks, the new model of aggregation between small businesses to which the law n.33 of 2009 recognizes, to increase the level of competitiveness and innovation, a specific more favorable tax treatment.
Cassa Depositi e Prestiti will add to the European resources other funds drawn from its own fund of 18 billion (13 of which disbursed so far for subsidized loans overall to 83.000 small and medium-sized companies) which was set up in 2010. On the basis of the new funds, the CDP will now stipulate an agreement with the ABI for the collection of subscriptions to the initiative from individual banks. Agreement which will indicate the terms and limits of the loans that may be requested by companies and business networks. Once these organizational steps have been defined, ie within a few months (hardly less than two) the Cassa and the ABI will publish on their respective websites the list of banks to which companies can submit loan applications.
This agreement, according to the opinion of both the financial institutions that signed it, will contribute to "strengthening the operational collaboration between the EIB and CDP" in the context of loans to public administrations and companies, local authorities, entrepreneurial groups, with especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. This operational agreement will contribute to the achievement of a higher level of efficiency and speed of procedures, also as a result of exchanges of officials between the two providers.
"The strengthening of collaboration between our institutions - comments Dario Scannapieco - is crucial to continue to ensure the Italian economy a continuous flow of new resources in all productive sectors, from large works to small and medium-sized enterprises, and thus restart the virtuous circle of productive recovery and employment”.
Matteo Del Fante also underlines the importance of the renewed synergy between the CDP and the EIB. “The opening of this new credit line – he says – consolidates a collaborative relationship already tested in the infrastructure sector, which is now aimed at the sector of smaller Italian companies for the first time. And which thus offers a concrete contribution to the recovery of investments and represents a positive evolution of the economic support programs launched by the Cassa over the last few years to support access to credit by small and medium-sized enterprises”.
Just over a month ago, it was chairman Werner Hoyer - at the end of a board of directors meeting which had approved loans for a total amount of 5,6 billion in favor of SMEs and those of intermediate size - who reiterated the "vigorous support ” of the EIB in favor of companies included in this size range. “A sector that represents – he underlined – the backbone of the European economy and its main generator of employment. And that this year represents the great priority of the European Investment Bank”.
This is an objective set by the European Council in June 2012 and reaffirmed by the last one last year. An objective which, as regards Italy in particular, between the last months of 2013 and the first four months of this year took the form of a considerable amount of financial resources from the EIB.
