The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed with Banco Popular a EUR 500m loan aimed at facilitating access to finance for SMEs and midcaps in Spain and Portugal. Banco Popular will match the EIB funding with an additional EUR 500m, bringing the total amount of finance to be made available to this segment of the market to EUR 1 000m.
EIB Vice-President Román Escolano and the Banco Popular's CEO, Francisco Gómez, signed the corresponding finance contract in Madrid.
The resources available under this credit line are intended to provide financing on favourable conditions in terms of maturities and interest rates for investments in Spain and Portugal to revive economic activity and create jobs. The individual loans may be used to finance both investment projects and working capital requirements of up to EUR 25m in the case of SMEs and up to EUR 50m in the case of midcaps, with a minimum term of two years.
This operation reinforces the cooperation between the two institutions and demonstrates the special effort being made to facilitate SMEs' access to credit.
