The Galician Government has launched the Financial Agenda 2022, a roadmap with various support programmes for companies aimed at contributing to economic recovery and improving the competitiveness of the business fabric in the face of an adverse economic context. With this document, the Xunta de Galicia aims to strengthen the solvency of companies and facilitate their access to credit so that they can gain leverage, maintain and generate employment, as well as develop projects that contribute to economic recovery and the competitiveness of Galicia's strategic sectors.

The Financial Agenda 2022 incorporates different measures totalling 135.5 million euros, strengthening the capital and equity of Galician companies, and from which a public-private mobilisation of 400 million euros is expected, three times more than the previous year.

There are three lines of action under the strategy: strengthening companies' capital and equity, providing access to debt instruments, and providing guarantees to make it easier to obtain credit.

Reinforcement of capital

With regard to capital, the Business Transformation programme was launched with a budget of 30 million euros combining financing and strategic consultancy. This instrument was designed to promote projects of internationalisation and to reinforce companies' competitiveness through digitalisation and innovation, financing of integration projects, improving products and processes, the professionalisation of management teams and the restructuring of companies.

Access to debt instruments

The Galician Financial Agenda includes the granting of loans to tackle the possible debts of the Galician business fabric. More specifically, loans have been envisaged for strategic investments consisting of the creation of new facilities and the improvement of existing ones, or to increase companies' production capacity. These loans have an interest rate with discounts of up to 1.5% compared to the market rate and a duration of up to twelve years with the possibility of including a one-year grace period.

Loans are also planned to finance those industries affected by the increase in the price of raw materials and supplies as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In this specific case, the amounts range from 300,000 euros to one million euros. Interest rates are subsidised by up to 1.5%.

In addition, the Xunta, through the Galician Innovation Agency (Gain) and the Galician Institute for Economic Promotion (Igape), has opened the call for the IFI Innova loan programme, which allows for the financing of innovative projects of small and medium-sized enterprises, with amounts of between 50,000 and 500,000 euros.

Companies also have at their disposal a line of loans worth 22 million euros, partially repayable, combining borrowing and aid to undertake a given investment. This is the first time that companies have been offered the possibility to apply for aid and loans jointly to finance their projects.

In this scenario, the beneficiary will receive a loan as a form of support to enable them to undertake an investment. In the case of the timely implementation of the project for which the investment is requested, and if the conditions for benefiting from direct aid are met, a part of the loan becomes non-repayable.

Offer of guarantees

The Financial Agenda's third line of action is aimed at providing guarantees through the Igape's endorsement and guarantee programmes. The former has at its disposal nearly 4 million euros to cover up to 70% of the risk of the financing operation to be accessed. In the case of guarantees, in partnership with mutual guarantee societies, more than 10 million euros are allocated to guarantees for accessing working capital, business investments or national or international trade operations.