Regulation on subsidized loans for businesses put into effect

Regulation on the subsidizing of interest rates on Dinar loans for the economy sector, limiting annual interest rates to maximum 5.45%, was put into effect Friday.

According to the Regulation published in the latest issue of the Official Gazette, the subsidizing of interest rates will be done for the loans with a repayment period of up to 18 months and a grace period of maximum six months.

The Serbian government adopted this regulation at its session on May 15th, while Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said before that he had expected the economy sector to obtain EUR 1.2 billion in favorable loans on the basis of EUR 60 million worth of loan subsidies to be provided by the state.

The maximum amount of loans that can be granted to entrepreneurs and micro enterprises is RSD 10 million, small enterprises can apply for a loan of up to RSD 100 million, medium-sized enterprises for maximum RSD 400 million worth of loans, while large enterprises can obtain a loan of up to RSD 500 million.

A one-off fee for loan processing charged by the lending bank can go up to 0.5 percent of the loan amount.

The money for subsidizing interest rates will be transfered to banks through the Development Fund of Serbia.