Small & Midsize enterprises (SMEs) in Finland will soon have access to additional funding in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. To help companies deal with the fallout of health-related restrictions, Savings Bank has signed an agreement with the European Investment Fund (EIF) for a credit guarantee programme that will make available €50 million in new, advantageous lending to support them.
The guarantee from the EIF falls under the “European Guarantee Fund”, meant to ensure that European SMEs have sufficient financing available to mitigate the economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and are able to continue their growth and development in the medium to long-term. The programme makes it possible for Savings Bank to offer enhanced conditions to their borrowers.
Kari Suutari, CBO for corporate customers of Savings Bank says in a comment: “The EGF guarantee is cost-effective and covers largely the need of financial collateral. The guarantee enables Savings Banks to finance the development and profitable growth of existing and new SMEs, which will be significant benefit to our customers. I believe that the new EGF guarantee program will further strengthen the high level of customer satisfaction of the corporate customers of Savings Bank.”
European Investment Fund Chief Executive Alain Godard added: “The European Guarantee Fund allows the EIF to reach out and provide much-needed financing to European SMEs, allowing them to weather the COVID storm and grow. As in other countries, Finnish businesses have had to deal with an important economic fallout related to the COVID pandemic and the EIF is glad to be able to partner with the oldest bank in Finland to do its part in making this financial support available.”
Background information:
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. EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments, which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment.
Founded in 1822, Savings Banks is a Finnish banking group consisting of 18 independent regional and local savings banks.
The European Guarantee Fund (EGF) was set up by the EIB Group with contributions from Finland and other EU Member States to shield companies suffering from the COVID-19 crisis. Using nearly EUR 25 billion in guarantees, the EGF allows the EIB and the EIF to quickly make loans, guarantees, asset-backed securities, equity and other financial instruments available to mostly small and medium-sized enterprises. The EGF is part of the European Union’s recovery package aiming to provide a total of EUR 540 billion boost those parts of the EU economy that have been hit the worst.
Press contacts:
EIB Group: Tim Smit, +352 691 28 64 23, t.smit@eib.org, Follow us on Twitter@EIF_EU
Savings Bank: Kari Suutari +358 44 207 1905, kari.suutari@saastopankki.fiWe use cookies to give the best browser experience on our website. or change cookie settings.
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