Credit for small companies

Banks will issue loans up to 50,000 euros each to very small enterprises with an annual turnover of no more than €200,000 in the context of the new Guarantee Fund of the Hellenic Development Bank that is expected to start operating in early March.

According to estimates, some 8,000 very small enterprises are set to receive credit, having been denied access to the banking system due to their size.

The budget of the new fund, especially designed for this kind of companies, amounts to €450 million, and will be financed with €220 million by the Hellenic Development Bank, with the remainder coming from the participating commercial lenders.

The loans will be state-guaranteed, with a coverage rate as high as 80%, which means that the collateral banks will ask for will only cover 20% of each loan. The target of the credit is the enterprises that have been hit by the...