Hungary’s state-owned export-import bank has agreed to credit facility investments totalling €331mn with 13 financial institutions in the country.

The financial institutions are Budapest Bank, CIB Bank, Commerzbank, Erste Bank Hungary, Gránit Bank, MKB Bank, NHB Bank, Oberbank, OTP Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, Takarékbank, Sopron Bank Burgenland and UniCredit.

József Dancsó, CEO of Magyar Export-Import Bank (Magyar Exim), says the funding lines will “significantly accelerate” the lending process for SMEs in the country. Businesses will be able to apply for “de minimis” funding through an EU provision, gaining access to credit with subsidised interest, with the aim of boosting production capacity and international competitiveness.

The credit line is part of the bank’s Jövő Exportőre Alhitelprogram (“exporter of the future sub-credit programme”) and includes two facilities worth €84mn and Ft77bn (€247).

Under the programme, nine structured products are available for exporting SMEs through their local financial institutions, with 33 bank partners currently on board. The programme has already “greatly contributed” to SME export capability in Hungary, says the bank.

According to Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs and trade, Hungarian exports reached a combined value of more than €100bn in 2017, as reported by state media outlet MTI. In the same year, 96 major foreign investment projects were established in the country, worth a total of around €3.5bn.