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Thu, 20 Feb, 2014 12:00:01 AM FTimes- Xinhua Report, February 20
The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group in 2013 significantly increased its financial support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the backbone of the European economy, the Bank said Wednesday.
The EIB said in a statement that the EIB Group significantly stepped up its financial support in 2013, with financing up to 75.1 billion euros (103 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 37 percent year-on-year.
The financing amount that the EIB Group, comprising the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund, provided within the European Union was 67.1 billion euros last year, with an increase of 42 percent compared to 2012.
In 2013, the EIB signed loans worth 18.5 billion euros for SMEs and mid-caps, while at the same time the European Investment Fund committed EUR 3.4 billion.
"Our SME support became our largest policy contribution, amounting to EUR 21.9 billion. This is an all-time high!" EIB Group President Werner Hoyer was quoted as saying in the statement.
This effort allowed the Group, together with private investment partners, to mobilize more than 50 billion euros to support SMEs.
In all, a total of 230,000 companies received direct or indirect support through EIB Group activity. These businesses employ 2.8 million people across Europe.
Hoyer said that the EIB Group will continue to make a substantive contribution towards addressing the current challenges in Europe.
"We have to invest more. In particular, we have to invest significantly more in research and development, innovation and 21st-century-based infrastructure in order to increase our competitiveness," he said.
EIB said its capital adequacy improved from 23.1 percent to 28.7 percent in 2013, following a capital increase decided by the Bank's shareholders, the 28 EU member states, in 2012.
The asset quality of the Bank remained strong, with impaired loans at just around 0.2 percent.
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