The loans granted to SMEs within the credit lines of the Development Bank have doubled. As at 31 March, loans have been negotiated for over BGN 112 million.
Loan agreements to the amount of BGN 112,6 million were signed between 159 Bulgarian small and medium-sized enterprises /SMEs/ and commercial banks. The number of negotiated loans doubled within a fortnight only, increasing from 86 as at 14 March 2009 to 159 at the end of the same month.
The loans were granted in different sectors of the national economy – trade, farming, production, manufacturing industry, construction, infrastructure projects, etc. Taking account of the keen interest in financing, BDB will provide comprehensive information about the amount of negotiated and assimilated loans once per each two weeks.
The financing for SMEs is provided within the credit lines of the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB). Early in February 2009, BDB negotiated with 13 commercial banks credit lines to the amount of BGN 250 million. The funds are designed for medium and long-term investment crediting, and for pre-export funding of Bulgarian small and medium-sized enterprises.
Refinancing for the commercial banks is part of the Market Flexibility package of measures approved by the government to minimize the negative effects from the global financial crisis on the Bulgarian economy. Graded capitalization of the Bulgarian Development Bank with a total of BGN 500 million was initialized even at the end of 2008 under one of the measures.
The loans for the businesses are granted in compliance with the general terms of the partner banks. They envisage financing end users up to a maximum amount of BGN 2 million, at fixed interest rate of 8% for the entire term of the loan, and up to 7% bank charges and fees on annual basis. The payoff period of the loans for the companies, which are clients of the commercial banks, is up to 10 years with grace period of up to 3 years.
