October 19 (SeeNews) - The European Investment Fund (EIF) has signed a 600,000 euro ($687,000) Erasmus+ guarantee loan agreement in Croatia for mobile Master's students with Privredna Banka Zagreb (PBZ), the Fund said.
The agreement will provide financial support for students from Croatia, studying for their Master degree in one of the 33 Erasmus+ programme countries, the EIF said in a statement on Thursday.
Erasmus+ student loans will be available in PBZ in the first quarter of 2019 at more favourable lending terms and conditions.
"This new programme helps to bridge the financing gap that students face when choosing to pursue a Master's degree in another country. Helping Privredna Banka Zagreb launch this new product will support the mobility of high-potential students who will be instrumental in creating growth and innovation in Europe," the CEO of EIF, Pier Luigi Gilibert, noted.
The agreement is the first in Croatia under the new Erasmus+ loan guarantee scheme financed by the European Union and managed by the EIF.
"Students are the driving force of society, and Erasmus+ student loans is a product designed for those students who wish to improve their knowledge and gain higher level education as part of the selected Master's degree programmes abroad," the CEO of PBZ, Dinko Lucic, said.
Thanks to EU support, the Erasmus+ guarantee scheme allows EIF to provide capped guarantees and counter-guarantees to financial intermediaries which in turn grant loans to students who will move to undertake a master's degree in another country taking part in the Erasmus+ programme.
($ = 0.873251 euro)
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