The Ministry for National Economy, in cooperation with Eximbank, is introducing the EXIM Microcredit Card for exporters or suppliers of exports from Hungarian micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga announced at a press conference.
The Minister said that through the microcredit programme, which is expected to be launched this autumn, the Government aims to facilitate the development and improve the foreign market prospects of SMEs. As Mihály Varga added, this preferential loan is designed for exporters which cannot obtain a Széchenyi Card.
Eximbank Director General Roland Nátrán stated that under the EXIM Microcredit Programme SMEs can apply for an overdraft loan of preferential rates and a related credit card at participating credit institutions. This revolving loan facility can be requested for the tenor of one year and with an amount between EUR 10 thousand and EUR 200 thousand, or HUF 3 million and HUF 60 million. The interest rate is capped at is 4.1 percent and total credit financing costs – including the credit guarantee – will not exceed 6.1 percent per year.
These enterprises, the Minister stressed, play a key role within the national economy, they constitute the bulk of Hungarian enterprises and employ some three-quarters of labour force. He pointed out that increasing the number of SMEs with export potential has been a main economic policy objective. In his opinion, the microcredit programme will be a potent instrument for this and the planned structural change within ministries, resulting in a more efficient set-up of foreign trade-related decision-making bodies, will also serve this goal.
Mihály Varga also said that in the coming four-year term the leading institution for the financing of large enterprises is planned to be Hungarian Development Bank, while Eximbank is expected to increasingly focus on the financing of SMEs. To this end, the number of Eximbank branches will be increased and in the coming months eight new offices are scheduled to open outside Budapest. He added that the new microcredit scheme is an integral part of Eximbank’s export credit refinancing program, which currently has funding of EUR 1bn and which has already been joined by 21 credit institutions.
(Ministry for National Economy)
