EIF and SBCI triple new financing for Irish SMEs to €330m
The European Investment Fund and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) have tripled their finance for Irish SMEs under the COSME programme in Ireland with a new increase to EUR 330 million.
Today’s deal means that from 2018 an expected 10,000 companies in all sectors across Ireland will have access to COSME support.
The additional €230m was agreed to meet the demand for new financing requests from Irish companies, after 3,500 SMEs primarily in the agri-sector, fully utilised the EUR 100 million financing supported by the COSME EFSI counter-guarantee agreement signed last year.
The loans backed by the European Commission’s COSME programme allowed SBCI to launch a new 3 year risk-sharing product last year which was fully utilised within 6 months.
An Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Frances Fitzgerald TD welcomed the announcement and said she looks forward to working with the EIB Group on further significant supports for Irish businesses.
"In addition to the Brexit Loan Scheme which I recently announced, I am also working with the EIB and the SBCI on the development of a Brexit Investment Loan Guarantee Scheme.”
Commenting on the signature, EIB Vice President for Ireland, Andrew McDowell said the new engagement follows successful financing for 3,500 companies under the COSME programme signed last year and that was now being extended by an additional €230 m.
"It demonstrates the EIB Group’s strengthened support to enable new investment by thousands of companies across Ireland at a time of uncertainty relating to Brexit. Today’s agreement is also expected to be followed by a EUR 300m joint scheme with SBCI to address working capital challenges of Irish companies as announced in last months’ budget”.
SBCI CEO Nick Ashmore said the SBCI was delighted with today’s announcement.
"This additional risk capacity represents very significant new European Commission support for Irish SMEs. This will enable the SBCI to develop and deliver new programmes through to mid-2020 to address recognised market failures relating to SMEs ability to obtain access to finance”.
European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, said: "Today’s agreement with the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland means around 10,000 companies will have access to EUR 330 million in financing. This is great news for up-and-coming Irish businesses, for jobs, and for the local economy as a whole."
The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank group. Its central mission is to support Europe’s micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance.
