CFOs from 70 of France’s largest companies believe that EIB financing is the second most attractive form of support available. A survey by the consulting firm Deloitte indicated that EIB lending and private equity investment was less attractive than issuing bonds but was preferable to leasing, using own funds, structured finance and standard bank loans.

Published in October, the survey asked CFOs which were the most and least attractive options for financing in the next six months. 17% said EIB loans and private equity were the most attractive options, with 6% thinking it was the least attractive: a positive balance of 11 percentage points. This compares very favourably to standard bank loans and structured financing options, which had negative balances of around 20 points.