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A number of 13,453 SMEs have registered in the SME Invest portal by May 31, requesting 17,000 loans, of which 13,967 are related to the Invest programme, with a value of financing approximately 16 billion lei, and within the Agro sub-programme there are requirements for 2,849 loans, with a financing value of 4.3 billion lei, informs on Monday the National Credit Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises (FNGCIMM).
According to a statement from the institution, by the end of May, FNGCIMM had signed a total of over 600 guarantee agreements, concluded with 47 financial partners, banks and non-banking financial institutions.
The main government programme implemented during 2020 is SME Invest Romania - dedicated to small and medium enterprises which facilitates access to financial capital in order to ensure liquidity in order to carry out current business or to make investments.
Thus, within this program, during 2020, a number of 25,586 contracts were awarded with a financing value of 14.171 billion lei. However, the year 2021 brought as a novelty the sub-program Agro SME Invest, adequate to the specific needs of SMEs in the agricultural sector, fisheries, aquaculture, as well as the food sector. In addition, the state aid under the Agro SME Invest sub-program includes a grant component of 10pct of the financing amount, as well as an extended grace period of up to 24 months.
As of May 31, 2021, 13,453 SMEs have registered in the SME Investing portal, requesting 17,000 loans, of which 13,967 are related to the Invest program, with a financing value of approximately 16 billion lei, and within the Agro sub-program, there are requirements for 2,849 loans with a financing value of 4.3 billion lei.
The guarantee mechanism implemented based on GEO no. 37/2020 on granting facilities for loans granted by credit institutions and non-banking financial institutions to certain categories of borrowers provided guarantee commitments amounting to 238.072 million lei, representing interest due to 47,610 individual borrowers and 112 SMEs.
The "New Home" program, the updated version, has allocated a ceiling for 2021 in the amount of 1.5 billion lei, and until May 31, 2021, more than 5,000 guarantees were requested, the current availability of the ceiling being approximately 55pct.
In 2021, FNGCIMM was appointed by the Ministry of Finance to participate in the development of the Economic Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026. As an institution implementing the Reform 7.2 "Establishment of the Venture Capital Fund for Economic Resilience", the Government of Romania, through FNGCIMM, will offer new financing opportunities for start-ups and scale-ups, including innovative ones.
