Romanian lawmakers double target but not budget of SME financing program

The law that regulated the functioning of the Government-backed SME financing program passed by the Parliament earlier this week and promulgated by president Klaus Iohannis on June 10 doubled the program's size to EUR 6 billion of loans.

However, it didn't change the budget for the interest rate and fees that the Government has promised to cover for the companies this year.

The president of the body that handles the program (CNIPMMR), Cristian Paun, could not explain how this will be dealt with: either the doubling (of the volume of loans) will be deferred, or the subsidies will be provided to only half of the recipients, he told Hotnews.ro. Paun also said that maybe the banks would not extend more than EUR 3 bln of loans this year - which would help CNIPMMR avoid the dilemma.

President Iohannis promulgated the law under the form amended by the Parliament without commenting on the inconsistency.

The program is already operational as per the Government's emergency ordinance.

The Parliament, controlled by the Social Democrats, was more generous than the Liberal Government. The bill included larger companies among the eligible beneficiaries and expanded the maximum volume of loans.

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