€250m EIB loan boosts SMEs in Catalonia

The European Investment Bank is providing the Barcelona-based Institut Catala de Finances (ICF) with a loan of up to €250 million to support small and medium-sized enterprises during the COVID-19 crisis. 

The two institutions have signed the first €150 million instalment of this financing agreement under an accelerated approval procedure put in place by the EIB to ensure that the funds reach Spanish firms as quickly as possible. It represents one of the first operations mounted under the EIB’s €5 billion programme to safeguard European businesses in the face of the coronavirus crisis.