EIB Group and Commerzbank join forces to support SMEs during the COVID-19 crisis

The guarantee will release regulatory capital for Commerzbank and will enable it to provide new lending of up to EUR 500 million to SMEs and mid-caps in Germany under favourable terms. This is expected to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on smaller businesses, self-employed individuals and mid-caps, which are currently experiencing shortages in liquidity.

With guarantees from the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the EIB and the EIF are able to take on a higher share of project risk, encouraging private investors to participate in the projects. To date, the projects and agreements approved under EFSI are expected to mobilise around EUR 535 billion of investments and benefit around 1.4 million small and medium-sized companies throughout the EU.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals. Since 2000, the European Investment Fund (EIF), a specialist provider of risk finance to benefit small and medium-sized companies, is part of the EIB Group.