November 23 (SeeNews) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) said it is extending a 142.5 million euro ($169.6 million) credit line to Croatia to support the faster recovery of local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the Covid-19 crisis.
The financial package was agreed with the state-owned Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR), and represents the second tranche of an approved 400 million euro package for support to SMEs, the EIB said in a press release on Friday.
"The loan is intended for the provision of affordable loans to small and medium-sized enterprises in need of funds for maintaining liquidity, preserving jobs and further investing for the purpose of ensuring a faster recovery from the consequences of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic," the president of HBOR's management board, Tamara Perko, said in the press release.
The credit line is also part of the EIB’s Jobs for Youth initiative, under which companies creating jobs for young people could borrow funds under more favourable terms.
The EIB and HBOR signed the first tranche of the approved loan package, worth 100 million euro, in October.
($=0.840392 euro)