In collaboration with Bank of Valletta plc. the Europe Commission introduced the JEREMIE financing package which is a €50 million loan facility intended to support local micro¸ small and medium-sized enterprises to reduce their difficulties in accessing finance¸ which is considered to be one of the main obstacles for growth. Through this scheme¸ on average SMEs will benefit from a discount rate of around 1% in interest rates and reduced security requirements.

Target sectors include:

• Accommodation and Food Service Activities;
• Creative sector including arts¸ entertainment and recreation;
• Information¸ Communication and Technology;
• Manufacturing of traditional and new products and services such as aviation;
• Professional¸ scientific and technical services; and
• Wholesale¸ retail and the associated storage services.

Eligible to benefit from the scheme are local SMEs¸ which are both BOV and non-BOV clients¸ employing not more than 250 employees and of which turnover does not exceed €50 million. A maximum loan amount of €500¸000 intended for investments and capital expenditure may be granted per applicant for a period up to 10 years.

Important considerations to note are that business or owner has responsibility for full payments of the loan and the prohibition of double funding under EU regulation.

Should you be interested in such scheme kindly contact Tiziana Gauci on +356 27 484375.