THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) has a new 2.2 billion euro ($165 billion) investment facility open to Jamaican businesses.
"We are looking for good projects," said Anthony White-house, an EIB consultant. He was speaking at the launch of the Investment Facility at the JAMPRO headquarters in New Kingston last week.
Loans are available to borrowers in the private sector and the commercially-run public sector public sector and cover a broad range of activities. Financing can be for new projects, expansions, rehabilitation, feasibility studies, or the acquisition of assets as well as wider sectoral programmes.
The EIB will not normally provide more than half of the funding for a project, Mr. White-house said. The institution prefers to co-finance projects with other European or multilateral organisations.
Loans are for medium to long term financing, with a grace period before capital repayments start. Larger projects can be considered for direct financing by the EIB, but smaller projects are handled by lines of credit or equity facilities with local financial institutions.
- Andrew Green
