- Financial institutions commit to increasing the credit granted in 2012 by 10,000 million euros
- Special attention will be paid to working capital credit and new investment projects.
The Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness has today signed two agreements with the Spanish Banking Association (AEB) and the Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks (CECA) to promote the financing of small and medium-sized companies with a commitment of 10 billion euros in loans additional. The signing ceremony was attended by the Secretary of State for Economy and Business Support, Fernando Jiménez Latorre, the President of the AEB, Miguel Martín, and the President of the CECA, Isidre Fainé.
The objective of the agreement is to favor the reactivation of credit to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, a sector that represents 99.88% of the business fabric and that plays a key role in generating employment and wealth in the Spanish economy. As a whole, the entities associated with the AEB and the CECA undertake to make available to SMEs at least an additional 10,000 million euros of credit compared to what was granted in 2012, with special attention to the financing of working capital and new investment projects. .
The creation of a Monitoring and Coordination Commission is also stipulated in order to implement the necessary actions for the execution of the agreement, as well as to monitor the achievement of its objectives. This commission will be made up of a representative from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, which will also preside over it, a representative from the Bank of Spain, and a representative from each banking association.
This new financial commitment to boost financing for SMEs, included in the Spanish Strategy for Economic Policy for 2013, reinforces the Government's commitment to favor financing for the productive sectors. Also part of this effort is the intense consolidation carried out in the financial sector, the measures aimed at favoring non-bank financing for companies and the strengthening of the ICO lines, which have a budget of 22,000 million for this year.