Fifty million euros to finance and support investment and growth projects for Italian small and medium-sized enterprises. This is what the new agreement signed between Banca Ifis and the European Investment Bank (EIB). This is the second agreement finalized with the European financial institution after that of June 2019, for a similar amount and with similar characteristics to the existing credit line, which brings the total disbursement up to one hundred million euros, further strengthening, also in prospective terms, this procurement channel for Banca Ifis.
The new agreement is part of a large pan-European project financed by the EIB with a total value of five billion euros and called "Covid-19" which aims to be the EIB's first response to support the real economy during the global pandemic. «In this delicate historical moment we are going to renew an important partnership with the EIB, confirming the
our support of small and medium-sized enterprises. This agreement is in line with the Bank's funding source diversification strategy – he explains Luciano Colombini, Chief Executive Officer of Banca Ifis – will further strengthen our commitment to introduce new finance into the Italian economic system in an agile and rapid way by integrating, even in this new and complex restart phase, the various measures implemented by the Bank since the beginning of the pandemic in support of corporate liquidity.
«The partnership between the EIB and Banca Ifis is strengthened with a new credit line that guarantees additional support to SMEs put to the test by the coronavirus pandemic and its economic consequences. The EIB loan will allow Banca Ifis to disburse new loans to companies, at competitive conditions, also in the form of liquidity and working capital support, supporting them to overcome an unprecedented challenge", said Miguel Morgado, EIB Operations Director for Italy , the Balkans and Malta.
The loan agreements will concern small and medium-sized enterprises in all productive sectors: from agriculture to handicrafts, from industry to services, from tourism to commerce, transport, energy and the environment. Banca Ifis will make loan agreements available to these companies, at more advantageous interest rates and terms. The financeable projects concern: tangible and intangible investments, including the purchase of plants, equipment and machinery, expenses for research, development and innovation, for environmental protection and renewable energies, in addition to the financing of the working capital necessary for the operational activity. The companies concerned must have, at a consolidated level, a maximum number of 249 employees. Pure financial and/or real estate investment projects are excluded.
