The National Fund for Guaranteeing Loans for SMEs plans to support collateral worth some €350 mln in 2009 for loans in excess of €700 mln, up 60 percent year-on-year, according to the institution’s President, Aurel Saramet.
“Last year we received one hundred payment requests from SMEs, which meant some 1.5 percent of the total. The figure is very small compared to that of the EU [European Union], where the average is 2.5-3 percent. However, we expect this value to exceed five percent in 2009,” said Saramet.
To help SMEs counter the crisis and obtain loans from banks, the Guarantee Fund received capital worth €100 mln, which allowed raising the guarantee to the maximum permitted in the EU, of 80 percent of the value of the loan.
Moreover, based on a protocol signed with Eximbank, which is also capitalized by the Romanian state to support SMEs, guaranteeing loans for implementing priority projects and those financed from EU funds will be made in a proportion of 100 percent.
