EIB Increases support for SMEs in Accession Countries
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has substantially stepped up its support for the development of small and medium size enterprise in the accession countries by loaning a total of 215 million euro. Banks within each country, such as Citibank of Romania, have received between 10 and 50 million euro to provide long term funds for financing SMEs and local infrastructure projects. EIB Vice-President Wolfgang Roth said: 'In line with the EIB's specific role to assist the ten central European candidates for EU membership, our global loans brings much needed long-term funds through selected banks to SMEs.' In Central Europe as in the EU, the EIB directly finances large projects and supports smaller schemes through global loans. To date, the EIB has committed more than 1.7 billion euro in the form of global loans, representing 13 percent of the bank's total commitment in the accession countries.