Lisbon, July 30, 2025 (Lusa) - Bank BPI announced on Wednesday that it had agreed with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to make €190 million available to finance productive investments by medium-sized companies in strategic sectors.

‘For this risk-sharing instrument, the EIB has approved a €100 million guarantee operation to Banco BPI, covering 75% of the credit risk associated with loans mainly for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, in line with the European Union’s sustainability and energy transition objectives,’ the bank said in a statement.

The remaining part of the portfolio will benefit from a 50% guarantee from the EIB, it added.

The operation aims to support up to €190 million in new loans to Portuguese mid-cap companies, particularly those operating in priority cohesion regions, to contribute “to regional development and economic convergence in the country”.

The statement quotes the director of the EIB’s Financial Institutions Department, Gemma Feliciani, who stresses that medium-sized companies “are fundamental to the Portuguese economy”, enabling this operation to “grant loans on more favourable terms for investments that strengthen productivity, innovation and environmental sustainability”.

The executive director of BPI, Ana Rosas Oliveira, stressed the bank’s “ongoing commitment” to “supporting medium-sized companies by providing them with the resources they need to grow and improve their credit conditions”.

‘In addition, we are promoting new investment, innovation and the green transition,’ she said, adding that stakeholders also expect ‘that the loans will benefit companies operating in less developed regions of Portugal’.

This operation is part of the “Growth for Midcaps” guarantee, an EIB financial instrument that aims to share credit risk with European banks, facilitating access to finance for companies.

The authorities have approved this, the fifth project in Portugal since 2023, under this instrument.

PD/ADB // ADB.

Lusa