EIB Teams Up with Greek Banks to Support Covid-hit Businesses

The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group under the European Guarantee Fund (EGF), announced that it would join forces with Greek banks to support businesses impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic providing 6.5 billion euros in liquidity.

Tourism enterprises, among the hardest hit in Greece, will be able to tap into the funding.

A total of 2.7 billion euros worth of guarantees will be provided to Alpha Bank, National Bank of Greece, Eurobank, and Piraeus Bank by the EIB Group to assist enterprises across the country with sustainable business plans to recover from Covid-related challenges.

The agreement, signed in Athens between Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, EIB Vice President Kettel Thomsen, and representatives of Greece’s four systemic banks, makes Greece the third largest beneficiary relative to its contribution to the fund, which was set up in 2020 by the EIB Group with contributions from 22 EU member states to enhance support for enterprises impacted by Covid-19.

“The unprecedented technical and financial cooperation between the European Investment Bank Group and leading Greek banks will further accelerate economic recovery and sustainable growth in Greece and support employment,” said Staikouras.

“Greece is the fifth largest absolute recipient of the EGF and the third largest relative beneficiary amongst all participating EU member states thanks to the hard and efficient work of Greek and European partners in recent months,” the Greek finance minister added.

The new tool provides access to fast-track loans, guarantees, asset-backed securities, equity and other financial instruments with the aim to ensure that companies with sustainable business plans can get access to liquidity to overcome pandemic-related difficulties, and for healthy businesses to get the funding they need to protect jobs and evolve in a sustainable way.

“Together with Alpha Bank, Eurobank, National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank, the EIB Group is making sure that Greek companies in tourism, services and manufacturing – sectors most impacted by the devastating Covid-19 pandemic – can continue to invest, innovate and create jobs,” said EIB’s VP Kettel Thomsen.

Since December 2020, the EIB Group has approved 23.2 billion euros of EGF support for hundreds of individual operations across its 22 participating member states.