(10 June 2013) – Portugal and Greece are interested in the same kind of support for lending to small business that Germany agreed with Spain last week, a spokeswoman for the German finance ministry said (8 June), but they will need a state financing body to qualify.
Anxious to support growth and combat unemployment elsewhere in the euro zone, Berlin has laid out a scheme to grant Spanish small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) aid of roughly €1 billion.
A German magazine reported on Saturday that the government wants to extend the scheme to make it easier for companies to get credit in other countries across the currency area’s crisis-stricken southern half.
A spokeswoman for the German finance ministry said the measure was part of an overall strategy to promote growth and employment, especially for young people, in the countries which have been bailed out in Europe’s debt crisis. A spokeswoman for the German finance ministry said the measure was part of an overall strategy to promote growth and employment, especially for young people, in the countries which have been bailed out in Europe’s debt crisis. (With EurActiv)