The Government assures that most of the guarantee lines deployed so far in response to the consequences of DANA will have a zero rate for the first three months. La Moncloa has approved – since last November 5 – more than 5.5 billion ICO loans, at no cost to entities and clients. Among them, 1 billion were mobilized a few weeks ago and have already started to be offered by the banks. Most offer 0% APR for the first three monthsboth to households and to self-employed workers and businesses. The objective of the loans is to accelerate the arrival of direct aid promoted in parallel within the plan. The person concerned can request financing and receive the deposit in their account, “as aid arrives, the amount will be used to amortize the loan and the operation will be canceled without amortization or opening costs “, explain sources from the Official Credit Institute (OIC). Banks thus constitute a rapid channel for the arrival of compensation.
The People’s Party was denouncing that people affected by the floods must pay interest on the guarantees receivedwhich the banking entities themselves deny. “CaixaBank has made available to those affected by DANA in the Valencian Community, Castile-La Mancha and Andalusia, a 0% financing line for individuals and self-employed people, as an advance to obtain aid for their immediate needs,” explains the bank in a press release. statement. The same thing happens with the rest of the entities. Sabadell, BBVA and Santander have been offering interest-free guarantees for weeks thanks to conditions guaranteed by the State. After the initial term, the rate increases to 2.5% APR with a validity of up to five years. “It is a lie to claim that we charge interest on loans,” government spokesperson Pilar Alegría insisted last Thursday.
Added to this is the line of 240 million guarantees that the Executive approved last Thursday in the Council of Ministers. It is about credits at the rate subsidized by the Ministry of the Economythrough the Secretary of State for Commerce. “It’s an effort,” recognize ICO sources, who recall that the guarantees deployed during the pandemic did not include individuals, and were not free. “By regulation, they had a cost for the entity,” they explain. These loans are aimed at SMEs and the self-employed, with the aim of promoting the revival of their economic activity.
This funding is in addition to the rest of the measures promoted. Among them are the tax benefits levied by the Ministry of Finance. Two of them in the form of deferrals until 2025 – without interest – of payments planned on the date of the disaster. The Treasury has suspended – since November 5 – the collection of the second payment of the declaration of the 200,000 taxpayers concerned who chose to pay their obligations in two installments. The economic impact of this measure is estimated at 315 million euros.
