France will launch a public investment bank within days to help cash-strapped companies to obtain financing, President Francois Hollande said on Friday, bringing forward the date as his government speeds up efforts to fight a downturn.
The bank, originally due to be launched in January of next year, is designed to support small- and medium-sized firms which are struggling to obtain financing from private lenders amid super-tight credit conditions.
"A public investment bank will be created in the coming days," Hollande told journalists in north-eastern France. "There is no time to wait: we are facing too many emergencies."
France is also fast-tracking the launch of a scheme to create 150,000 state-sponsored jobs for youths, in a move to tackle rising unemployment.
The new body brings together several existing public lenders under the state bank Caisse des Depots, aiming to offer thousands of credit-hungry companies business advice as well as a single window for loans.
"Pulling together all these different institutions under a single roof is not only a good thing, it's an urgent move for France," said Frederic Bonnevay, an economist for think tank Institut Montaigne.
In July, Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg told Le Parisien daily that a public bank was necessary because private lenders were not "sufficiently interested" in the real economy, preferring to seek higher margins abroad.
Read more: France's Hollande speeds launch of state investment bank | Reuters
No comments:
Post a Comment