September 11 (SeeNews) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) said on Tuesday that it has signed a 100 million euro ($115.9 million) loan agreement with the Macedonian Bank for Development Promotion (MBDP) in support of local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-caps.
"While the 100 million euro loan is primarily intended to support SMEs, it will also promote investment objectives relating to climate change (renewable energy and energy efficiency, sustainable transport) and competitiveness (innovation and skills)," the EIB said in a statement.
A minimum of 70% of the loan amount will be allocated to SMEs.
"Especially beneficial is the fact that, after this credit line is returned, it will be reinvested as credit in the economy again," Macedonia's prime minister Zoran Zaev was quoted saying.
MBDP will allocate the funds through selected local commercial banks.
This is the fifth such loan that the EIB has provided to the MBDP since 2009. The previous four loans totalled 450 million euro.
"Our previous four loans have helped create and sustain 60,000 jobs in almost 2,000 companies across the country", EIB vice-president Andrew McDowell said.
Over the past 10 year, the EIB has invested over 670 million euro in Macedonia.
State-owned MBDP is a financial institution tasked with supporting national economic strategies and objectives.
($ = 0.8632 euro)