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BRUSSELS, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The European Investment Fund (EIF) and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) have signed an agreement to provide loans of 100 million euros (106 million U.S. dollars) to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ireland over the next three years.
The loans will be provided as a result of a guarantee from EIF under the COSME program with financial backing from the European Commission.
The agreement will make it possible for SBCI to support additional attractive loans to around 2,000 SMEs through risk sharing initiatives.
COSME is the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) running from 2014 to 2020 with a total budget of 2.3 billion euros.
At least 60 percent of the program will be devoted to easing access to finance for SMEs in Europe, with two financial instruments. (1 euro=1.06 U.S. dollar) Enditem
