Government guarantee programme for companies is extended to

Government guarantee programme for companies is extended to 30 June 2021

The Swedish Government and the Riksdag have decided to extend the Government guarantee programme for companies. The programme is a credit guarantee scheme that was introduced to mitigate the damage to the economy from the coronavirus crisis.

The programme entails that the Swedish National Debt Office can provide credit guarantees for participating banks’ and credit institutions’ lending to companies. It caters primarily to small and medium-sized enterprises in Sweden that have been affected financially by the coronavirus pandemic but which are otherwise viable.

“The economic development to result from the coronavirus pandemic is still uncertain, so the need for state guarantees may remain for some time to come,” says Magnus Rystedt, Head of the Guarantee and Financing Department at the Debt Office.

The extension enables companies to apply for loans under the guarantee programme up to and including 30 June 2021, by contacting their lender/bank.

The state guarantee framework for 2021 is SEK 50 billion. As the central government guarantees up to 70 per cent of the loan amount, loans that can be guaranteed under the programme could, if fully utilised, amount to SEK 71 billion. On 31 December 2020, lending under the programme amounted to SEK 2.6 billion divided among 738 loans.

Up to the turn of the year, the hotel and restaurant industry was that which was granted the most loans, whereas the trade industry accounted for the largest volume of lending calculated in kronor. Companies with up to 49 employees accounted for over 90 per cent of the number of loans and close to 50 per cent of the volume.