Coronavirus pandemic: The EIB Group’s initiatives to address the economic consequences of the crisis

Based on the €1 billion unlocked from the Investment Plan for Europe/EFSI under the COSME Loan Guarantee Facility and the InnovFin SME Guarantee under Horizon 2020, the EIF is providing guarantees worth €2.2 billion to financial intermediaries, unlocking €8 billion in available financing. The calls for expression of interest as well as the updated terms  were published on 6 April 2020 on the following pages:

• www.eif.org/covid-cosme
• www.eif.org/covid-innovfin

In a further step, as of 24 July 2020, the EIF is also providing enhanced terms and conditions for guarantees and counter-guarantees under the EaSI Guarantee Instrument to further support financial intermediaries in providing financing to micro-borrowers, micro-enterprises and social enterprises affected by the crisis. The calls for expression of interest and the updated terms are available here:

• www.eif.org/covid-easi

Press release: Commission and European Investment Fund (part of EIB Group) unlock €8 billion in finance for 100,000 small and medium-sized businesses

Today’s announcement fulfils the commitment in the Commission Communication of 13 March to bring immediate relief to hard-hit SMEs, with money able to flow already in April. It is part of the package of measures announced by the EIB Group on 16 March designed to rapidly mobilise support for Europe’s SMEs and mid-caps.

As of today, the EIF is offering to the market dedicated EFSI-backed guarantees to contain the impact of the pandemic on small and medium sized enterprises and small mid-cap companies.

Read the full article here.

Get support

Information for financial intermediaries

A dedicated EIF Covid Infobox has been created for financial intermediaries to centralise any questions related to the EIF’s covid-19 response measures: covid-fi(at)eif.org

Calls for loan portfolio guarantees to intermediaries under EU programmes COSME LGF and InnovFin SMEG and EaSI GFI are published on our website. The EIF guarantees are supported by the EU budget under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).

Accessing finance for SMEs and mid-caps

Check here the EIF’s current network of financial intermediaries in your country. Our existing partners have been at the forefront of benefitting from the COVID-19 related financing support whilst new intermediaries are being added on a continuous basis.