Coronavirus: €15 billion in immediate support to Italian companies

Intesa Sanpaolo provides €15 billion – equal to nearly one percent of Italian GDP – to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through two new extraordinary measures to help businesses face the global Coronavirus crisis.

The goal of the new financing is to support Italian companies from all industries, providing them with the liquidity needed to overcome the economic phase of the crisis. The measures will enable companies to cope with payments, despite the progressive reduction or even absence of turnover, thus protecting jobs.

“We have a duty in this phase of extreme urgency to commit every resource, to give maximum support to Italian companies and allow them, once they’ve overcome the current difficulties, to relaunch as soon as possible” said Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo.

Intesa Sanpaolo is providing two measures for a total of €15 billion that provide:

An additional €5 billion for new 18-month credit lines, with 6 months of pre-amortization and favorable conditions. These credit lines are available to existing and new customers; and €10 billion of liquidity to existing Intesa Sanpaolo customers, through pre-approved credit lines that can now be made available for broader and more flexible purposes, such as the management of urgent payments.

These new initiatives by Intesa Sanpaolo are in addition to the moratorium announced on February 24, with the suspension of installments on existing loans for 3 months (for the principal portion only or for the entire installment) which can be extended for an additional 3 to 6 months depending on the duration of the Coronavirus emergency.

“We are deploying significant resources, equal to almost one percent of GDP. We can do this because Intesa Sanpaolo has the size, solidity and widespread presence that enable extraordinary interventions throughout the country, giving support to all businesses” Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo added.