The recovery of the economy is set to continue in 2014: mood indicators have been improving for several months and investment activity is expected to pick up again. Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich (RLB OÖ) is helping companies to push this forward. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing additional stimulus to underpin the national economy. As the bank of the European Union, it is now advancing a new EUR 100m global loan to RLB OÖ. These funds will be made available to businesses for investments and projects.
The global loan will provide RLB OÖ with low-interest financing resources that can be onlent to small and medium-sized enterprises. “We can call on these funds as from 2014 and make them available to RLB OÖ’s corporate customers on attractive terms”, explained Dr Heinrich Schaller, CEO of RLB OÖ. The global loan may also be used to finance projects especially in the areas of infrastructure, environmental protection, energy efficiency, healthcare, education, social housing construction and research and development.
Loans totalling EUR 200m
The EIB has been working with RLB OÖ for many years. A EUR 100m global loan has already been successfully handled by RLB OÖ in the past. In addition to the new global loan, also for EUR 100m, individual loans totalling EUR 186m have been provided. EIB Vice-President Wilhelm Molterer stated, “With partners like RLB OÖ, we are able to satisfy the financial requirements of small and medium-sized businesses in a flexible and reliable manner. With their investments, these companies in turn make an important contribution to economic activity, resulting in positive spin-offs for the labour market.”