Germany to set up credit facility for SMEs in Spain to boost jobs

BERLIN—Germany is setting up a loan program for struggling small and medium-sized firms in Spain to boost growth and jobs in the crisis-hit southern European economy, according to documents.

Germany’s state-owned KfW bank will provide about $1.3-billion at low interest rates to its Spanish counterpart, which will likely be able to lend out several times that amount in cheap loans to local firms.

The move is aimed at easing a credit crunch that is afflicting much of southern Europe, where small and medium-sized firms in particular are struggling to access affordable loans that would allow them to expand their business.

Top ECB officials and several EU leaders have described the lack of access to credit in heavily indebted countries as one of the most pressing issues to deal with as the continent tries to emerge from recession.

Germany, on the other hand, enjoys a top-notch AAA rating that investors see as a safe haven.

It can therefore borrow money at rock-bottom interest rates.

The initiative could also be extended to other countries, such as Portugal, that have been hit hard by the 17-nation eurozone’s debt crisis, German Deputy Finance Minister Steffen Kampeter said in the document obtained by The Associated Press.

Spain, the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy, is mired in recession, with an unemployment rate of about 27 per cent and about one in two young people lacking a job.

The German initiative’s design as “bilateral aid with rapid impact” reflects growing impatience in Berlin about the slow progress by the EU in freeing up existing funds to assist hard-hit countries.

The European Central Bank’s benchmark interest rate is currently at a record low 0.5 per cent, but banks are not passing on that low rate to companies because their own finances are strained.

Firms in economies like Spain, Portugal, Greece and, to a lesser extent Italy, still struggle to get affordable financing.

Even when banks are willing to lend, the interest rates demanded are significantly higher than in, say, economically robust Germany.

The loan facility for Spain foresees Germany’s KfW bank granting its Spanish state-backed counterpart, ICO, a ten-year $1.04-billion loan.

The total liability including interest rates is estimated at $1.3-billion, according to the finance ministry document.

In addition, KfW is in talks to support two existing ICO company lending programs with another $130-million each.

“It must be achieved to rapidly solve companies’ acute financing problems, because then many small and medium-sized firms, who have a solid business model and good growth outlook, will be able to secure their existence and start expanding employment again,” the document read.

The ministry stressed overcoming those firms’ credit shortages is important “because those companies are crucial for safeguarding the existing jobs and the creation of new trainee positions and jobs.”

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble will brief Parliament’s budget committee on the initiative June 5.

It was expected to have wide cross-party support, and lawmakers won’t hold a vote since the foreseen amount remains within the framework of already agreed credit guarantee lines.

“It is good news that the government finally actively supports the program countries to overcome the credit crunch,” said Priska Hinz, the opposition Greens’ ranking member on the committee. “One can only hope that this change of heart doesn’t come much too late.”

Germany is currently also assisting Portugal, which is in the middle of a recession coupled with high unemployment, to set up a state-owned bank modeled on KfW to prop up lending to the private sector as a first step before possibly also granting it a bilateral loan facility.