Deputy Development Min.: Gov't plans include new business funding tools every month
The government's plan is to provide a new product, on average, per month in terms of funding tools, Development & Investments Deputy Minister Yiannis Tsakiris told Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA) in an interview published Sunday.
One of these includes a new fund that will facilitate the issue of guaranteeing letters by banks for projects funded the EU's National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) program, and another involves startup businesses, he said. "Our intention is to provide a new product, on average, every month," he noted.
Businesses planning investments "are very often unable to provide a bank guarantee letter in order to receive a prepayment of the subsidy, leading to inability to proceed with investment plans," Tsakiris explained. The new tool under design by the ministry and the Development Bank will include a new fund resolving this issue, he added.
He also noted that several of the subsidized investment plans relate to research and development by small and medium-sized enterprises in partnership with research organizations, and a new tool "would also connect research and innovation with entrepreneurship." Such a tool is being discussed with the EU, where Greece has requested that it be included under the current NSRF program.
Another tool to support startups will include a product of "soft financing" - in other words, repayble assistance that could help over 1,200 innovative startups.
The current NSRF (2014-2020) funding has not been obstructed by the current financial problems of the coronavirus pandemic, with its absorption rate exceeding 33 pct, he said, or the equivalent of another 2.2 billion euros in the real economy. "This is higher, from the date we received it, by nearly 10 percentage points, without including in these numbers the Agricultural Development Program or the additional targeted actions of the government to deal with the pandemic," the minister said.
Tsakiris added that the new NSRF (2021-2027) is heading for approval by the European Commission. This will benefit 13 Greek regions, he said, focusing on projects and actions of high added value, of a strong developmental nature and with multiplying benefits for society and the economy.
Source: ana-mna
