“ROMANIA – DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY” CONFERENCE Dumitru Nancu, FNGCIMM: “85,000 companies have benefited from the IMM Invest program” – 25.04.2024

About 85,000 small and medium enterprises have benefited, until now, from the IMM Invest program, a fact that produced a fiscal impact both directly and indirectly in the Romanian economy, but this year will be the last edition of this program, because the state aid framework for SMEs will end, says Dumitru Nancu, General Director of FNGCIMM.

“Unfortunately, this year is the last edition of the IMM Invest Financial Instrument, because the state aid framework for SMEs has come to an end. Romania is the 6th member of the European Union to be approved for this financing scheme. From 2020 until now, at each launch of the IMM Invest program, we have had four editions and at each edition we make a fiscal impact. I believe that any financial instrument must show sustainability in the economy”, he declared.

According to the data presented by Dumitru Nancu, in 2019, before the first edition of the IMM Invest program, only one out of seven companies was bankable, but, through the IMM Invest program, at the end of 2023, one out of two companies was bankable, thus, the IMM Invest program was the largest banking program for small and medium enterprises in Romania.

“From the point of view of the fiscal impact, we bet on two things. The first was the direct fiscal impact, represented by the 85,000 companies that have so far benefited from the guarantee offered by FNGCIMM, and the second thing is the indirect fiscal impact, on which, from a financial point of view, I consider more important because, through the working capital obtained, small and medium-sized enterprises have managed to pay their invoices to suppliers, they have managed to maintain their number of jobs and, obviously, they have managed to capitalize. In 2019, when we started the SME Invest program, only one in seven companies was bankable. When we closed the year 2023, one in two companies was bankable, which means that IMM Invest was the largest bankable program of small and medium enterprises in Romania”, said Nancu.

Also, through the program run by FNGCIMM, the negative capitalization of Romanian companies decreased from 43% in 2020 to 31% in 2023, which represents a 12% decrease in the number of companies with negative capital .

“The second problem that we identified, in 2020, coming after a year of economic growth in 2019, was the fact that 43% of SMEs in Romania had negative capital, that is, from a fiscal-banking point of view, they could not be credited. When we closed the year 2023, only one third, more precisely 31% of SMEs in Romania had negative capital. I consider that IMM Invest was the largest public-private partner through which, at every leu guaranteed by the Romanian state, 12 lei returned to the economy”, declared Dumitru Nancu.

The general director of FNGCIMM announced that this week the last edition of the IMM Invest program, supported by 18 financial-banking institutions, will begin. Also, this latest edition will be marked by a decrease in interest rates, as well as a decrease in the guarantee commission, from 0.25% to 0.2%.

“This week begins the last edition of the IMM Invest program, which will last until June 30. I call on all entrepreneurs to go to the 18 financial-banking institutions. We started this program with 21 financial-banking institutions, but also mergers have taken place on this market. At the moment we have guarantee agreements with the entire financial-banking system, and companies can submit financing applications until July 31. We are also maintaining the two facilities this year of credit. Thus, the companies will benefit from a line of working capital, for a period of three years, on a revolving system, and a line of investment capital for six years, its value being 10 million lei from the point of view of interest, for investments in the first year, the interest costs are subsidized from the state budget, and from the second year, the interest has decreased. Also, the guarantee fee has decreased from 0.25% to 0.2%”, said Dumitru Nancu.