The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed an EUR300 million loan agreement with Spain's CaixaBank to finance small and medium-scale investment projects promoted by SMEs (with fewer than 250 employees) and midcaps (companies with up to 3,000 employees), along with their working capital needs.
CaixaBank is matching this EIB loan with the same amount. This means that a total of EUR600 million will be made available for financing such projects, an EIB press release said on Thursday.
The loan will mainly serve to finance investment in the industrial and service sectors. Projects eligible for financing will mostly be located in Spain and around 40 percent of the loan amount is destined for projects in convergence regions.
The loan was granted under EIB's policy of supporting the economic development of SMEs and midcaps by providing credit on preferential terms including longer maturities, flexible disbursement schedules and lower interest rates. These improved terms will be passed on to the end borrowers.
"Supporting SMEs to foster growth and employment in the EU is an EIB priority. In 2012, the Bank provided EUR2,680 million worth of new credit lines to finance 24,280 investment projects mounted by small businesses in Spain alone," the EIB said in the press release.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.