Thanks to the Juncker Plan, €3 billion in business-loan guarantees
CDP confirms its commitment to the growth of small and medium-sized businesses in Italy by strengthening the operation of the Fondo di Garanzia per le PMI (a loan - guarantee fund), the instrument of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, which promotes access to credit for small and medium-sized Italian companies.
CDP will guarantee the Fund for €3 billion, which will activate further direct financing guarantees to the Italian production system. The initiative will reach approximately 70,000 small and medium-sized businesses and will be able to generate up to €6 billion of new investments. CDP’s intervention is made possible through the EFSI Platform SMEs promoted by CDP and EIF (European Investment Fund), and supported by the Italian Ministry of the Economy and Finance (MEF).
The EFSI Platform SMEs is the first platform promoted by a National Promotional Institution under the Juncker Plan and represents the greatest measure ever made to facilitate access to credit for small and medium-sized businesses.
The Fondo di Garanzia per le PMI will receive € 216 million from CDP and EIF that will make available national resources and resources from the COSME (Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) Program under the Plan Juncker.
Operating since 2000, the MISE Fund managed by MedioCredito Centrale is the most important Italian national facilitation tool that allows access to SME credit through the provision of collateral in direct form or via the Confidi bank-credit consortium. In 2016 more than 114,000 transactions were accepted, of which approximately 75,000 companies were eligible for "first-time" collateral on loans totaling €16.7 billion. Since its inception, more than 675,000 transactions have been accepted and 300,000 companies have been guaranteed, with €62.7 billion in loan guarantees.
"This operation is the result of the collaboration between CDP and national and European institutions in the promotion of business access measures," said CDP Chief Executive Officer Fabio Gallia. "The agreement allows for greater effectiveness of the Guarantee Fund thanks to the innovative use of the European funds promoted by CDP under the Juncker Plan, a synthesis of a national approach and a systemic and international vision."
This operation also confirms CDP's leadership within the Juncker Plan and the importance of co-operation between national and European institutions in the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises, the main engines of economic and social development in the country and in Europe