• Firms accessing this credit line will benefit from favourable terms of EIB financing

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing financing for SME and mid-cap projects with a EUR 75m loan to Bankia. Under the agreement signed in Madrid, Bankia will match the loan with the same amount, meaning that a total of EUR 150m will be made available by the two institutions for financing Spanish businesses.

This EIB loan to Bankia is being provided under the EU programme for SMEs and mid-caps. The EIB-Bankia credit line deployed under this agreement is designed to enable firms to finance their investments.

This support from the EU bank will allow beneficiary firms to obtain loans on favourable maturity and interest rate terms to undertake their projects. The aim is to help Spanish SMEs and mid-caps (firms with up to 3 000 employees) access long-term funding enabling them to become more competitive and create jobs

The maximum project cost for accessing finance from Bankia's EIB credit line will be EUR 25m for SMEs and EUR 50m for mid-caps. The financing, which can cover the entire project cost for projects of up to EUR 12.5m, is aimed at a wide range of productive sectors.

This operation is the seventh of its kind signed by the EIB and Bankia since 2014, thanks to which more than EUR 4bn in financing has been directed to SMEs and mid-caps.