The regional institution and the mutual guarantee society have presented the Seed Capital Bizkaia Mikro Enkarterri loan to provide microfinance without guarantees (either personal guarantees) and with a minimum interest to companies of the region.

 The Provincial Council of Bizkaia and Elkargi launch a new instrument to promote the granting of loans to companies in Bizkaia through Seed Capital Bizkaia Mikro and its product for Enkarterri. Imanol Pradales, Deputy for Economic and Territorial Development, and Zenón Vázquez, General Director of Elkargi, have detailed the peculiarities of this tool, designed to provide microfinance without guarantees (either personal guarantees) to microenterprises based in Enkarterri under very advantageous financial conditions.

As explained by Pradales and Vázquez, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia commits 600.000 euros to grant direct loans to the participating members of Elkargi. Specifically, this new instrument is aimed at cooperative companies, labor companies, limited companies and social economy companies with registered offices in Enkarterri; as long as the loan is not aimed at refinancing the business or restructuring liabilities. The maximum estimated percentage of financing will be 25.000 euros per company. The annual interest rate will be 2,5% fixed, without commissions or notary fees.

Neither will additional supplementary guarantees be required apart from personal ones, although, always depending on the estimated risk of the business, guarantors responsible for payments may be requested.

Seed Capital Bizkaia Mikro Enkarterri is guaranteed by the Mutual Guarantee Society and the client is the beneficiary of the contributions to this entity without making any disbursement. The agreement signed by the Provincial Council and Elkargi contemplates an amortisation period of at least six months and a maximum of five years.

Collaboration to boost economic activity

Zenón Vazquez and Imanol Pradales have underlined that this agreement represents a new milestone in the collaboration between Elkargi and the Provincial Council to promote economic activity and business competitiveness in the territory, through the diversification of financing sources with instruments created by public-private collaboration.

The Deputy for Economic and Territorial Development, for his part, explained that the Provincial Council hopes to reach thirty business projects through this new specific microcredit program for Enkarterri and recalled that the measure is in addition to the dozen actions carried out to improve Enkarterri’s competitiveness through the stimulus plan approved by the Provincial Council, the Basque Government and all the municipalities in the area.

Likewise, Imanol Pradales recalled that the Provincial Council has been granting microloans since 2015 through Seed Capital (regional company) to entrepreneurs in the territory. At the end of the first quarter of 2019, Seed Capital Mikro will have granted more than 100 microloans with an amount bigger than 2 million euros.