The European Investment Bank, is launching a lending facility via other financial institutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Belarus as well as the other countries known as the EU’s eastern neighbours. EIB President Philippe Maystadt announced the decision on 30 September ahead of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Istanbul. Until now, the EIB has been able to offer its SME loans product only to banks within the European Union, Western Balkans and pre-accession countries. The EIB’s decision to expand geographic coverage follows a request made at the EU’s Eastern Partnership Summit held in Prague in May. This is an important addition to the action we are taking with other international financial institutions to help stabilise lending to the real economy in central and eastern Europe, Philippe Maystadt said. We hope to be able to conclude our first loan under the new facility before year end. The EIB together with the World Bank (WB) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) committed in February to provide EUR 24.5 bn in financial resources for banking systems and the real economy in central and eastern Europe. Of the total, the EIB pledged to provide nearly half, or EUR 11 bn.