NIB launches third loan facility with Sparebanken Sør in Norway

NIB and Norwegian savings bank Sparebanken Sør have launched a new NOK 1 billion (EUR 97.58 million) loan facility with a maturity of six years for onlending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), small mid-cap enterprises (SMCs) in Southern Norway.

This is the third loan programme agreed between NIB and Sparebanken Sør. The previous ones were signed in 2017 and 2018 and are successfully allocated to projects in the SME sector, such as investments in new premises.

The funds of this third facility will also be onlent to SMEs to finance investment projects in the counties of Agder, Rogaland and Vestfold og Telemark in southern Norway, where Sparebanken Sør provides financial services.

“The small mid and medium sized enterprises create a considerable share in aggregate output and employment in our member countries. We therefore expect the loan facility with Sparebanken Sør to contribute to increasing the productivity and efficiency of investments in southern Norway,” says André Küüsvek, NIB President & CEO. 

Projects to be financed through a financial intermediary must fulfil the sustainability requirements defined in NIB’s Sustainability Policy.

Sparebanken Sør is the sixth largest savings bank in Norway in terms of total assets. Based in Kristiansand, southern Norway, the regional savings bank has 22,000 corporate customers and 180,000 retail customers. The bank provides financial services in the Southern regions of Norway in the counties of Agder, Rogaland and Vestfold og Telemark.

NIB is an international financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with the leading rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

For further information, please contact
Jim Dahlström, Senior Banker, +358 10 618 0334, jim.dahlstrom@nib.int

Arild Moen, Associate Director, Communications, +358 10 618 0496, arild.moen@nib.int