IfG to issue first loans of 200 million euros to banks
The newly formed Institution for Growth in Greece (IfG) development fund is next week set to sign contracts up to the amount of 200 million euros with three of the country’s four systemic lenders to begin refinancing loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Sources say that these banks are National, Eurobank and Piraeus.
The funds of 200 million that IfG will have at its disposal are the first to be disbursed from state resources through the Public Investments Program and the participation of Germany’s KfW, which will allow for their flexible use toward refinancing companies.
The distribution per bank will be determined according to demand and will likely be exhausted.
The terms of the loans issued to the three systemic banks via the IfG are particularly favorable. The interest rate is expected to be around 2 percent, allowing for the refinancing of SMEs at a particularly low cost compared with current levels.
Banks will have to repay the resources lent to them by the IfG within seven to eight years. In the meantime they will only have to pay the interest.
