The National Fund Guaranteeing Loans for Small and Medium Enterprises will guarantee loans to be taken out by SMEs, based on a guarantee scheme, the ministry said in the decree’s explanatory note. The institution added that about 12,000 SMEs will benefit from the aid scheme.
The state will guarantee up to 80% of the value of loans contracted by SMEs, but no more than 100,000 lei (about EUR24,000) and will subsidize up to 50% of the interest, but no more than an annual RON125,000 per beneficiary.
The budget allotted for subsidies amounts to RON165 million for the 2011-2013 interval, said the ministry.
The measure will apply only to firms that have up to 250 employees and whose net turnover does not exceed EUR50 million per year. Also, their total assets must not exceed the equivalent in lei of EUR43 million.
According to Trade Registry data, a total number of 7,192 companies started insolvency procedures in Romania between January and April, 8% fewer than 7,820 in the same interval of 2010.
In the analyzed period, 8,627 companies suspended activity, down 68% from 26,843 in January-April 2010.
(EUR1=RON4.1756)