Brussels, 02/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) has just granted a €500 million loan to the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) to finance capital projects promoted by SMEs in Spain.
This credit line is designed to support SME projects mainly in the industrial, tourism and service sectors. As an innovative feature, it may be used to finance not only traditional investment in fixed assets, but also investment in the intangibles that are essential to companies' growth such as RDI or the creation of distribution networks. This loan comes under the heading of the EIB's SME support policy of helping small firms gain access to credit by increasing flexibility, simplifying procedures, and, in return, requiring greater transparency from intermediary banks, which must clearly inform their customers of the way in which the EIB funds improve their lending terms by allowing longer maturities, more flexible disbursement conditions and lower interest rates. (O.L./transl.rt)