Eximbank signed a framework loan agreement worth EUR 50 million with the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) in Budapest on Tuesday with the aim of expanding the financing of the domestic micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) sector.
The deal was signed by Eximbank CEO Zoltán Urbán and CEB Vice-Governor Mikołaj Dowgielewicz. The realisation of the agreement was facilitated by the fact that both Eximbank and the CEB regard it as their mission to increase employment within the MSME sector and to support the sector’s loan availability through their activities.
On the basis of the framework loan agreement, MSMEs registered in Hungary will have access to financing through the Hungarian banking sector. The credit line provided by the CEB may be used to refinance current asset and investment loans up to a maximum of EUR 5 million.
After signing the agreement, Parliamentary State Secretary László Szabó of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the agreement effectively serves the strategic aims of the government’s foreign trade policy: for Hungary to have the highest export to GDP ratio within the European Union. It is similarly important to increase the number of SMEs that have an interest in Hungarian exports, he added.
Eximbank CEO Zoltán Urbán highlighted: the CEB credit line strengthens Eximbank’s loan activities within the domestic SME sector and helps reduce the associated costs and expenses.
CEB Vice-Governor Mikołaj Dowgielewicz told Hungarian news agency MTI: the credit portfolio of CEB in Hungary amounts to EUR 1 billion and stressed that the Bank primarily support projects that promote job creation, the prevention and mitigation of environmental disasters, and the modernisation of the education system.
The Council of Europe Development Bank has been in operation since 1956: it is Europe’s oldest multilateral development bank.