The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Ibercaja signed a EUR 150 million loan in Zaragoza this morning, designed to finance the investment projects of SMEs and midcaps (firms with up to 3 000 employees) in industry and the services sector in Spain. This is the second and last instalment of an initially approved EUR 200 million loan, the first EUR 50 million instalment of which was signed last May and has already been fully channelled to small and medium-sized businesses.
As usual with this type of loan, Ibercaja has undertaken to match the EIB funding with the same amount, meaning that, including the agreement signed last May, a total of EUR 400 million will be made available to such firms.
EIB Vice-President Román Escolano commented that “the signing of this new loan is a further demonstration of the EIB’s firm support for small and medium-sized businesses, a key pillar of its strategy to boost economic recovery and stimulate job creation”. He went on to say that he was “he was especially pleased by the speed and efficiency with which the funding had been deployed so far”.
The EIB loan carries advantageous interest rate and maturity terms that Ibercaja will pass on to the final beneficiaries. The funds will mainly be used to finance investment projects costing up to EUR 25 million in the case of SMEs and EUR 50 million in the case of midcaps. The individual loans granted by Ibercaja may serve to finance the new capital projects, leasing operations or working capital requirements of such firms.
