May 25 (SeeNews) - NLB Banka Beograd, the Serbian unit of Slovenia's largest lender Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), said on Monday it has extended state-guaranteed liquidity loans worth 17 million euro ($18.6 million) so far under the government's programme for supporting businesses affected by the coronavirus crisis, it said on Monday.
Interest in loans under the programme is extremely high, mostly from companies active in trade, manufacturing and civil engineering, and the bank has so far received requests for financing totalling 40 million euro, NLB Banka Beograd said in an e-mailed statement.
"I am proud that we at NLB Banka have managed to prepare for the extension of loans for support to the economy, especially to the part of it that felt the consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic the most - small and medium-sized businesses," executive board member Vlastimir Vukovic noted.
After the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis in March, the government unveiled a 5.1 billion euro financial package for supporting Serbia's economy. The package includes a 2 billion euro guarantee scheme for loans to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs extended by commercial banks.
($ = 0.916421 euro)