Deputy Minister of Finance Mr. Thodoros Skilakakis introduced two new Greece 2.0 loan programs exclusively for SMEs.
“The energy transition, the digitalization of the state, the reduction of bureaucracy and the qualitative modernization of social infrastructure are the essence of the Recovery Fund and the reform policy pursued by the government today,” said the Deputy Minister of Finance at the “Greece 2.0 Opportunities and Perspectives” event held this afternoon in Thursday 13 October in Chania.
Thodoros Skilakakis focused on the opportunities that exist, first of all, for small and medium enterprises, within the framework of the National Plan for the Recovery and Stability of the Economy “Ευκαιρίες και Προοπτικές του “Ελλάδα 2.0””. Noting that the Εθνικού Σχεδίου Ανάκαμψης και Ανθεκτικότητας “Ελλάδα 2.0” program will soon open for applications.
The Deputy Minister expressed confidence that the REPowerEU, which will be added to the Recovery Fund, will have more tools for business investment in energy.
Mr. Skilakakis stressed that the loan program, which will be implemented over the next 5 years, so far includes 160 investment projects with a total budget of 7.14 billion euros (out of 2.98 billion euros). At the same time, loans from the Recovery Fund amount to 2.55 billion euros, bank funds and 1.61 billion euros in equity funds. Of this amount, more than 1 billion euros are invested by small and medium-sized businesses, however, according to Mr. Skilakakis, most enterprises of this size have not yet used this development tool.
Speaking about the speed of procedures, he gave the example of the first small business to receive a loan from Ελλάδα 2.0, approximately 2.5 months after submitting the corresponding request electronically on a specially configured platform. In particular, this is an investment project worth 1.127 million euros for the reconstruction of a hotel on the island of Serifos.
In addition to the aforementioned 11.7 billion euro broad loan program, which covers companies of all sizes, the Deputy Minister spoke about two more loan programs that are exclusively for small and medium-sized companies. First of all, in January, under the auspices of InvestEU (European Guarantee Body), a guarantee program will be released.
The cooperating Greek commercial banks will be able to provide loans totaling about 2.5 billion euros to small and medium-sized enterprises. As for the second program, with a total amount of 1 billion euros, respectively, it will be addressed to innovative, start-up small and medium-sized enterprises, providing them with loans to implement their investment plans.
Finally, with regard to the overall economic situation, he stressed: “At the moment we are in the ‘heart’ of an energy crisis and the start of a recession in the European economy or even a recession in many countries. The situation will last, in my opinion, not for long, because its main cause is exogenous. This is the war in Ukraine and the resulting rise in inflation caused by higher fuel prices – basically – and the attempt by central banks to limit inflation by raising interest rates. When the war ends, the situation will change.
The recession will pass, and we will have lower fuel prices, because there will be no more pressure. The economy will enter a recovery phase that will last for several years. Having emerged from the crises, and despite the large amount of money we have allocated to overcome them, Greece’s debt this year will be lower than the debt of 2019. Then it was 180.7% of GDP, and this year it will fall to 169.1% of GDP. And this is while spending about 95% of the funds from the Recovery Fund, which will now begin to flow into the economy.”
More Stories
Bank of Greece: total reduction in bank deposits
"Easter basket" will appear on shelves from mid-April, what will it include
Who will receive a voucher for 300 euros