Spain: EIB and ICO lend EUR 500m to finance the internationalisation of Spanish SMEs

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) have signed a EUR 250m loan for financing the exports of Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). ICO will match the EIB loan with a further EUR 250m, meaning that a total of EUR 500 million will be made available to export-oriented Spanish companies. The agreement was signed in Madrid today by EIB Vice-President Román Escolano and ICO's President Emma Navarro.

This is the first collaboration agreement between the EIB and ICO to support the internationalisation of Spanish SMEs. The EIB loan will partially finance the ICO Exporters 2016 Line, aimed at providing liquidity to SMEs to enable them to internationalise. This credit line finances the advance payment of invoices from the export activities of SMEs and the self-employed over the short term and the production and development costs of the goods that they export.

With this operation, the EIB will support the export activities of small and medium-sized enterprises. The EIB loan via ICO will enable them to internationalise under favourable financing conditions.

At the signing ceremony, Román Escolano stated, “This loan will provide SMEs with the liquidity that they need to expand, export and become more competitive, thus contributing to the creation of jobs and economic growth in Spain”.

Emma Navarro added, “This operation will allow us to continue promoting the internationalisation of the Spanish economy, one of ICO's strategic objectives over the last few years, by using a facility specifically designed to boost the exports of businesses.”

ICO has stepped up its efforts to internationalise Spanish SMEs by developing a comprehensive range of products to cover all needs when selling abroad. ICO's international lending activity has increased significantly since 2012, from 2% to more than 32% in 2015. It is thus establishing itself as a key player in financing the export sector, in line with the structural shift in the Spanish economy.

ICO reinforced its strategy for promoting the export activity of companies with the launch of the ICO Exporters Line, which last year helped to finance the exports of more than 43 000 enterprises, amounting to EUR 2 934m. The main destinations were France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom. During the last financial year, 9% of Spanish exporting firms obtained financing through the ICO Exporters Line.