So far this accounts for 68% of the initial allocation to this financing facility, pegged at €12 million and set up by the ICF, Avalis de Catalunya and Barcelona City Council through Barcelona Activa.

Since the launch of the B-Crèdits financing facility by the Institut Català de Finances (ICF), Avalis de Catalunya and Barcelona City Council through Barcelona Activa, 659 loans have been arranged worth a total of €8.2 million which represents 68% of the facility’s €12 million in funding.

The loans coming to at most €12,500 are designed to meet the liquidity needs of micro-SMEs and the self-employed in the city in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis and thus help to revive the local economy. Specifically, the loans were aimed primarily at the retail, food services, tourism, creative industries, care, education and sports sectors with a special emphasis on self-employed women and female entrepreneurs. Retail, catering and tourism-related businesses make up the largest share of the total number of enterprises financed.

“These microloans have a five-year term, including a one-year interest-only period, which allows micro-SMEs and self-employed workers to concentrate on getting their businesses back up and running,” says the ICF’s CEO, Víctor Guardiola. “In the current circumstances it is crucial to pool resources and build synergies with organisations such as Barcelona Activa, which supports companies and promotes the city’s economic development.”

“The approval process is really flexible,” notes Avalis’s CEO Josep Lores. “This has allowed micro-SMEs and the self-employed to get hold of these microloans, which are essential to cover the working capital needs of this segment, in just a few days.”

“This measure is one of the first to be undertaken by Barcelona City Council’s Economic Response Coordination Centre,” points out Barcelona’s First Deputy Mayor for Economy, Employment, Competitiveness and Finance Jaume Collboni. “It is designed to support the city’s small businesses which are bearing the brunt of Covid-19’s economic impact by bringing what we all do best to the table and partnering other tiers of government. The results we are presenting today show that this initiative was necessary and urgent.”

The microloans can be applied for at Barcelona Activa’s Business Service Office and on the website www.barcelonactiva.cat/bcredits which sets out all the information and documents required. In this credit facility Avalis de Catalunya analyses and where applicable approves the loan, Barcelona Activa manages digital signatures for the transaction and the ICF disburses the funding.

Sobre l’ICF

L'ICF és l'entitat financera pública de Catalunya. Té com a missió principal promoure el finançament del teixit empresarial a Catalunya per tal de contribuir al creixement, la innovació i la sostenibilitat de l'economia catalana. L'ICF actua com a complement del sector privat oferint una àmplia gamma de solucions de finançament centrades en préstecs, garanties i inversió en capital risc. Des del 2014 és membre de l'Associació Europea de Bancs Públics (EAPB), que agrupa gran part dels bancs i les entitats financeres públiques que operen a Europa.

Sobre Avalis de Catalunya

La missió d’Avalis de Catalunya S.G.R., entitat sense ànim de lucre, és facilitar l’accés al crèdit a pimes i autònoms amb activitat a Catalunya, a més d’afavorir les condiciones de finançament mitjançant la prestació d’avals davant d’entitats financeres i de l’ICF. Tant mateix, facilita la licitació i execució de concursos públics.

Sobre Barcelona Activa

Barcelona Activa és l’agència municipal que té com a objectiu l’impuls de la política econòmica i el desenvolupament local per promoure la millora de la qualitat de vida de les ciutadanes i ciutadans de Barcelona a través del foment de l'ocupació, l'impuls de l'emprenedoria, el talent i el suport a les empreses, responent a les diferents necessitats de les persones en el seu territori i des de la perspectiva de l'economia plural.

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