European Investment Fund and ALTUM, a Latvian state-owned development institution, signed a microfinance guarantee agreement under the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI). The agreement allows ALTUM to provide loans to 600 micro-entrepreneurs over the next 3 years in Latvia.
There is a special European Commission’s Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI), which aims at contributing to the implementation of the EU-2020 strategy. The idea is to support high level employment, guarantee adequate social protection, as well as combating social exclusion, poverty while improving working conditions in the member states.
The central pillar of the EU’s investment plan is the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). It is to help use of liquidity held by the European financial institutions, corporations and individuals at a time when public resources are scarce.
The Commission works together with its strategic partner, the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group. The EFSI supports strategic investments in key areas such as infrastructure, energy efficiency and renewable energy, research and innovation, environment, agriculture, digital technology, education, health and social projects. It also helps small businesses to start up, to grow and to expand by providing risk finance.
The EFSI is an EU-budget guarantee providing the EIB Group with a first loss protection. This means that the EIB Group is able to provide financing to higher-risk projects than they normally would. An independent investment committee uses strict criteria to decide whether a project is eligible for EFSI support.
