As of today the results at 31 May 2011 are available on the application of the Lending Agreement undersigned on 16 February 2011.
The Agreement, executed by the parties who had already created the moratorium for the debts of SMEs, provides for four different channels through which enterprises are to be financially sustained:
1. extension of the moratorium up to 31 July, for those SMEs who have yet to benefit from it;
2. extension of the duration of the loan for those SMEs which have already benefited from the moratorium, and access to, if necessary, the guarantee of the Central Fund for Guarantees or the ISMEA, or a loan by the Cassa depositi e prestiti. In these cases, the lending rate is unaltered;
3. interest-rate risk coverage by using simple and easily comprehensible tools;
4. availability of a loan calculated on the basis of capital increase for SMEs which reinforces equity;
The applications for suspension received are over 285 thousand units, of which about 35 thousand refer to the moratorium extension period. Account being taken of the procedural filing time (about 30 days), up to May, over 211 thousand applications have been granted, the residual debt amounting to over 61 billion euros.
As for the extension of the duration of loans for the SMEs which have already benefited from the moratorium, 1,038 applications have been received, for a total debt of 700 million euros. The limited number of applications may reflect an improved capacity by those companies benefiting from the loan instalment suspension of honouring their commitments.