A €400m ($443m) loan facility will be made available to Benelux businesses looking to invest in sustainable projects, following an agreement between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and ING.
The financing will be made available through ING for green investments in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, with the organisations each providing €200m ($221m) in credit.
Projects targeted by the loans could include transitioning away from fossil fuels, energy-efficient real estate, circular economy schemes or electric transport.
Companies selected for loans on the basis of their sustainable impact will benefit from an interest rate discount of 0.3%, as a result of EIB backing.
EIB Benelux director for lending operations Heinz Olbers said: “This is one of the ways in which the EIB, in cooperation with ING, is offering business enterprises a helping hand.
“Apart from increasing the availability of finance to businesses, we pass on the EIB’s advantageous funding rate, due to its AAA credit rating, to provide cheaper loans.
“ING is a leading bank when it comes to sustainability, which is very high on the EIB’s agenda as well.
“We share ING’s goals in focusing on green investments and are glad to continue our fruitful collaboration.”
EIB loan will allow ING to offer credit to customers at discounted rate
The financing programme will launch in September, with half of the loan facility available to companies in the Netherlands and the other half split between Belgium and Luxembourg.
The EIB will lend €200m ($221m) under “advantageous pricing conditions” to ING, which will in turn pass on the benefit to business customers while matching the loan with an equal credit line of its own.
The agreement will accelerate ING’s sustainability lending programme in Benelux, which has been running since 2018, and brings the Dutch bank’s EIB-backed business financing in the region to €1.85bn ($2.05bn).
ING Netherlands head of midcorporate clients Annemein Kolk said: “This new loan agreement with the EIB helps us in encouraging our clients to invest in sustainable projects.
“There is still a lot to be done to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and the related Dutch Climate Agreement.
“With this loan we want to motivate and reward our clients to accelerate their sustainability agenda.”
Kolk’s ING Belgium counterpart Jean-Pierre Verbeken added: “Since we started our sustainability program in the Benelux, the subject has become a key topic in our dialogue with clients.
“We believe that incorporating a sustainability strategy will become essential for every successful company and our ambition is to support our clients in future-proofing their business models.
“The loan agreement with the EIB helps us to do so.”
