Societe Generale de Banque au Liban (SGBL) signed a financing agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) in the framework of a program dedicated to support small and medium-sized enterprises in Lebanon.

The signing of the agreement took place on Wednesday 28 June 2017 at SGBL's headquarters, in the presence of EIB's Vice-President Dario Scannapieco, SGBL's Executive management and representatives of the two banks.

On this occasion, Antoun Shenaoui, Chairman and CEO of SGBL, affirmed: "Through this agreement we provide our SME clients with credit lines at competitive rates compared to the market, thus confirming our willingness to accompany entrepreneurs in Lebanon and to support them in their expansion projects."

For his part, Dario Scannapieco said: "This new transaction will enable small and medium enterprises to scale up operations quickly, thus also contributing to the creation of more jobs by supporting the company’s expansion plan. The cooperation between the EIB and Societe Generale de Banque au Liban will guarantee attractive financial resources for Lebanese small and medium companies. The new credit-line comes under the EIB Private Sector Support Facility which seeks to increase the economic resilience of the Lebanese economy."

The 60 million euros credit line granted by the EIB to SGBL will be on-lent to eligible SMEs eligible for financing capex and working capital, enabling the final beneficiaries to take advantage of the low cost of EIB funding.