BBVA and the EIB agree on a €600 million credit line for Spanish SMEs

The first loan for €300 million will be used to finance SMEs and mid-cap companies from different industrial sectors. 20% of this loan will be for companies in convergence objective regions to accelerate their economic growth.

Two other loans signed today, for a total of €100 million, will be used to finance agricultural companies in order to improve the sector’s efficiency and competitiveness. Part of this funding will go to irrigation systems that optimize water consumption and to more environmentally friendly agricultural production systems. The goal is to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and fight against climate change.

Finally, BBVA and the IEB signed a €200 million loan to finance SMEs and mid-cap companies in sectors with high potential to create jobs, such as education, health and renewable energy. The funding will be used for small and medium sized projects in convergence objective regions.

IEB Vice-President Román Escolano underscored the European Investment Bank’s contribution to create jobs and modernize agriculture: “These loans will not only finance SMEs, the backbone of the Spanish economy and its greatest source of jobs, but will also help to modernize the agricultural sector, making it more efficient and more environmentally friendly.”

BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila emphasized that SMEs have always been a strategic priority for the bank, which traditionally has always defined specific support plans to bolster business development and employment generation. “The agreement we have signed today with the EIB further strengthens our commitment to SMES, one of the true drivers of the Spanish economy.”