EIB Group says it provided 443M euro to Bulgarian economy in 2020
The European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group), which consists of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF), provided loans, guarantees and equity commitments worth 443 million euro for projects in Bulgaria in 2020, the EIB said on February 8.
This represents a 23 per cent increase in total financing activities compared to 2019, the EIB said.
In 2020, EIB lending in Bulgaria amounted to 115 million euro.
The EIF committed some 328 million euro in new operations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which is expected to unlock 1.8 billion euro for SMEs in Bulgaria, most of which will support those that are struggling under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the statement said.
The annual EIB Investment Survey results for Bulgaria found that in the country, Covid-19 had substantially affected firms’ investment strategies.
It prompted nearly half of firms to invest less than planned (46 per cent) and only very few to invest more than planned (seven per cent).
Bulgarian firms’ reaction to the pandemic was in line with the EU average (45 per cent), the statement said.
A quarter of firms cited the increased use of digital technologies (25 per cent) compared to half of firms in the European Union (50 per cent).
A quarter of firms expect a permanent reduction in employment (25 per cent) as a long-term impact of Covid-19, similar to the EU average (21 per cent).
In addition, almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of firms in Bulgaria have no investment plans to tackle climate change impact, well above the EU average (35 per cent), the survey found.
(Photo: G Schouten de Jel)
The Sofia Globe’s coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria is supported by the Embassies of Switzerland and Finland.
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