Guarantee Fund

The Bulgarian government has endorsed changes to the Insurance Code today, suggesting that drivers who cause more accidents should face higher premiums for compulsory third-party insurance.

The Government on Monday evening approved the final version of the state budget law for 2021, with the approval of the Legislative Council. Head of the Chamber of Deputies and PNL (National Liberal Party) leader Ludovic Orban stated that, after the final adoption, with the approval of the Legislative Council, the state budget draft will most likely be sent to the Parliament on Tuesday.

Almost four out of five loan applications (78%) submitted by companies in the second phase of the Guarantee Fund, an initiative that started on November 17, have been approved by the credit sector.

In just over six weeks, Greek banks have approved the issue of loans to 7,470 enterprises, of which 7,360 are small and medium-sized firms and the remaining 110 are large ones.

The Greek credit sector has received a cheap liquidity boost this year of 40 billion euros from the European Central Bank that has flooded the market with cash aimed at supporting enterprises and households in the face of the pandemic.

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said that the Government is currently drafting several state aid schemes aimed at guaranteeing factoring, leasing for the purchase of equipment and guaranteeing the discount of payment instruments. "We are in the process of drafting several state aid schemes.

In just seven hours, as many as 10,000 companies applied for low-interest loans that are guaranteed by the state through the Guarantee Fund, exhausting the amount available at this initial stage of the process, Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis announced on Thursday.

The Guarantee Fund for the supply of loans to small, medium-sized and large companies with state collateral began operating on Wednesday with high expectations.
These working capital loans will have low requirements and favorable interest rates so as to provide liquidity to corporations during the crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

There is strong competition among banks for participation in the Guarantee Fund for the provision of state-subsidized liquidity to Greek enterprises, with 14 lenders expressing an interest in response to the invitation published by the Hellenic Development Bank.

Only healthy and consistent enterprises will have access to the state-guaranteed working capital funded by commercial banks and the Guarantee Fund.

The creation of the Guarantee Fund, which will be activated by the Development Ministry in early May to oversee the supply of state-guaranteed working capital of over 7 billion euros up until the end of 2020, marks the start of the economic recovery, through the direct injection of cash into medium-to-large and large businesses.