Bankia has agreed to match the loan, resulting in a total of €800m being made available for financing businesses.

The agreement will enable companies to benefit from loans with more favourable maturity and interest rate conditions to develop their projects.

This will help Spanish SMEs and mid-caps gain access to long-term funding, enabling them to invest in innovation and equipment renewal to become more competitive and create jobs.

The maximum project cost for accessing finance from Bankia's EIB credit line will be €25m for SMEs and €50m for mid-caps.

The available funding – which can cover the whole project cost for schemes of up to €12.5m – is aimed at a wide range of sectors.

At the signing ceremony in Madrid, Rom??n Escolano, vice-president at EIB, said: “Ensuring that smaller businesses have the resources they need to invest is one of the EIB's priorities.

“For this reason, we are happy to sign an agreement that will bring the advantages of EU bank financing to SMEs and mid-caps, key drivers of wealth generation and job creation.'

Jos?© Ignacio Goirigolzarri, executive chairman at Bankia, claimed that he was very pleased with the results of previous agreements signed with the EIB, adding that the new credit line would increase the number of beneficiary companies.

“SMEs are a key sector for Bankia, which is why one of our strategic objectives is to increase their share in our loan portfolio.'