PODGORICA (Montenegro), February 17 (SeeNews) – The Investment-Development Fund of Montenegro (IRF) said it plans to extend at least 200 million euro ($217 million) worth of loans to support the local business, startups, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 2020.
IRF is planning to extend the above amount via 36 credit lines, it said in a statement last week.
The interest rates on these loans will vary from zero to 4.5%, with maturities of up to 15 years and a grace period of up to 5 years, the statement reads.
This year's programme targets helping youth, emerging businesses, women, individual farmers, craftsmanship, and ICT and innovations, among others, the fund said.
In the past ten years since it was created, IRF placed an overall 1.0 billion euro to support the domestic economy, with 241 million euro being extended in 2019 alone.
IRF was established by the Montenegrin government in 2009. Its main goal is to support SMEs, exports, employment, ecological projects and privatisation.
($ = 0.92249 euro)