The European Investment Bank will provide a EUR 50 million Global Loan to Central-European International Bank (CIB), one of Hungary's leading banks. This loan represents an additional facility to a first EUR 50 million Global Loan signed on 15 November 2002 in Budapest.
The loan will improve access of small and medium size enterprises and municipalities to long term funding to implement smaller projects in the areas of energy, energy savings, environmental protection, infrastructure, services and tourism. In the framework urban rehabilitation schemes and urban renewal also projects dealing with infrastructure of health, education and social housing can be promoted.
Commenting on the loan signed today in Luxembourg Mr. Wolfgang Roth, Vice-President of the Bank said: support of SMEs represents a core activity of the EIB. In Hungary, SMEs are a very important sector having a significant influence on increase of labour productivity and competitive capacity of the country's economy as well as generation of new job opportunities. With the possibility also to finance municipalities, the Bank's funds will further contribute to providing a positive investment environment across the country's regions.
In Hungary, global loans have become a well-established and successful delivery system of long-term EIB funds in favour of smaller projects, usually promoted by a still not sufficiently developed SME sector or by municipalities for smaller infrastructure projects. Since 1990, the EIB has approved 20 global loan facilities for a combined amount of EUR 820 million. Key intermediaries include banks with substantial interests across the region, while due attention is also given to the existence of an adequate branch network and appropriate shareholder's support, and all intermediaries rank in the top 15 Hungarian banks.
Since 1990, the EIB has lent a total of EUR 23 billion in Central and Eastern Europe to finance projects fostering European integration, more than EUR 3.2 billion of this figure being provided through Global Loans, and of the total, Hungary has received lending close to EUR 3.4 billion.