February 27, 2009—The largest multilateral investors and lenders in Central and Eastern Europe - the EBRD, the EIB Group, and the World Bank Group - have pledged to provide up to €24.5 billion to support the banking sectors in the region and to fund lending to businesses hit by the global economic crisis.
This initiative complements national crisis responses and will deploy rapid, large-scale and coordinated financial assistance from the international financial institutions to support lending to the real economy through private banking groups, in particular to small and medium enterprises. The financial support will include equity and debt finance, credit lines, and political risk insurance.
The response takes into account the different macroeconomic circumstances in and financial pressures on countries in Eastern Europe, acknowledging the diversity of challenges stemming from the global financial retrenchment.
For more information, read the related press release or the Joint IFI Action Plan Communique [PDF].
