EIF to guarantee 750 mln euro loans for W. Balkans SMEs

The guarantees, totalling around 60 million euro, are funded under the European Union’s Western Balkans Enterprise Development and Innovation Facility (WB EDIF) “Guarantee for SME Resilience”, the Commission said in a press release on Friday.

The agreements aims to increase access to finance for small businesses, enhance their resilience to economic challenges, and foster conditions for expansion, employment, and innovation, with the expectation of facilitating loans to approximately 13,000 small businesses, sustaining around 180,000 jobs.

Another 20 guarantee agreements are expected to be signed, with some anticipated to be completed in the first half of 2024, the Commission said.

($ = 0.939 euro)