The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Instituição Financeira de Desenvolvimento (IFD) will provide €200 million in loans to Portuguese startups that are undergoing restructuring processes.
“It is essential to support firms that have gone through the difficult process of restructuring”
Portugal’s Minister of the Economy
The two institutions will together provide €200 million to support the modernization and capitalization of Portuguese SMEs and mid-caps.
The EIB will grant a €100 million loan to IFD and the Portuguese national promotional institution will ensure that financial intermediaries match the EIB loan with at least the same amount for the benefit of SMEs and mid-caps.
“It is essential to support firms that have gone through the difficult process of restructuring,” said Portugal’s Minister of the Economy, Pedro Siza Vieira.
“This credit line will be an instrument directed at companies that have completed this stage, pumping funds into them to make them more competitive and thus able to begin this new phase of their life with greater strength and confidence,” he added.
Signed today in Porto, the initiative is designed to implement another of the measures provided for in the Ministry of the Economy’s “Capitalize” program: providing access to finance for firms that have recently restructured, which generally have greater difficulties obtaining bank credit.
This new instrument provides for not only direct support for fixed capital investment relating to the development of projects aimed at business recovery, but also support for working capital requirements resulting from the development of such projects.
“Small and medium-sized companies are key to promoting economic growth and job creation in Portugal. With this loan, the EIB is supporting Portuguese SMEs that have undergone a successful restructuring process and are now seeking finance for their modernisation projects while at the same time fostering innovation,” said EIB Vice-President Emma Navarro.
“We are also delighted to strengthen our collaboration with IFD. National promotional banks are key EIB partners throughout the European Union and perform a very important role in the economy,” she added.
This is the second operation between the EU bank and IFD. The EIB support will allow the Portuguese promotional bank to provide financing on advantageous financial terms, namely low interest rates and long tenors.
In 2017, the EIB Group provided €29.6 billion for small businesses, reaching 285,800 companies throughout Europe. In Portugal, also last year, the EIB Group signed loan or guarantee agreements totaling €1.906 billion, including €1.022 billion that contributed to supporting more than 6,600 Portuguese SMEs.
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