EIB lending could reach EUR 70 bln in 2009

The European Investment Bank intends to raise its total lending in the European Union and pre-accession countries to as much as EUR 70 bln in 2009 in response to strong demand for its funding in the current tough economic and financial climate.
Loan signatures in the EU from October 2008 to end-May 2009 amounted to EUR 46.9 bln – a rise of 63% over the same period to May 2008. Disbursements in the same period rose 37% year-on-year, to EUR 35.8 bln.
The EIB committed itself last December to a European Economic Recovery Package that would increase overall lending in both 2009 and 2010 by some 30%, or EUR 15 bln, over the more typical annual total of around EUR 45 bln, provided it could identify enough suitable projects.
The EIB is already well on course to meet this 2009 target, and an ample stream of viable projects means loan signatures could now exceed the total foreseen in December by a further EUR 10 bln, President Philippe Maystadt told the EIB’s Board of Governors at its annual meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday.
“This is a sign of how quickly and efficiently the EIB can deliver on its promises,” Maystadt said. “Total lending of some EUR 70 bln would mean a truly significant contribution in terms of liquidity to European banks, corporates and public sector clients.”
Lending has advanced particularly strongly in three key areas targeted by the Recovery Package: small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); energy and mitigation of climate change; and investment in the poorer, ‘convergence’ regions of the EU.
Lending for SMEs amounted to EUR 4.4 bln to end-May – more than half the full-year target of EUR 8 bln – while loans for energy and mitigation of climate change reached EUR 3.9 bln against a full-year target of EUR 9 bln. Loans to support convergence have been signed for EUR 7.7 bln in the year to date, compared with a 2009 target of EUR 22 bln.