MicroBank will also match this sum, resulting in total funding of €60m.

The credit line will be made available to Spanish entrepreneurs and small businesses.

The agreement was signed in Madrid by Rom??n Escolano, vice-president of the EIB, and Antonio Vila, chairman of MicroBank.

Mr Escolano said: “The operation signed today is a clear demonstration of the EIB's efforts to boost the Spanish economy by supporting job creation for young people.

“It is also a good example of how the EIB's favourable lending conditions can be passed on to small-scale entrepreneurs.

“Thanks to this agreement with MicroBank, we will be able to strengthen our support for the small businesses that are key to continuing to generate wealth in the Spanish economy.'

Mr Vila claimed that “this agreement represents a further step in the EIB's ongoing support for MicroBank'.

He continued by adding that “the projects that we finance frequently start life as self-employment initiatives and turn into successful firms creating jobs for other people'.

This loan is the second instalment of a €100m agreement that the EIB signed with MicroBank in late 2016 to ease the financing of small business projects.

The first €30m tranche of this credit line has already helped more than 2,500 small businesses and self-employed workers.

The EU bank and MicroBank have so far signed three agreements totaling €260m to promote access to long-term funding on favourable terms for the self-employed.

The previous €100m agreement signed in 2015 financed more than 9,500 micro firms.

Almost a third (30%) of the beneficiaries launched start-ups thanks to this credit line.