The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) – the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe – is already expected to trigger EUR 264.3 billion in investments, following the latest transactions to be approved by the European Investment Bank (EIB) Board of Directors. This represents around 84% of the current target which is to mobilise EUR 315 billion in investment by summer 2018. The deals which will benefit from the EU budget guarantee now amount to EUR 53.2 billion in financing and are located in all 28 Member States. Around 589,000 SMEs are expected to benefit from improved access to financing. In other investment plan news, on 5 February the European Investment Fund (EIF) and Mutualité de Cautionnement (MC) signed the first COSME agreement for SMEs in Luxembourg. The agreement will allow MC to provide guarantees supporting more than EUR 20 million in loans to SMEs. On 30 January, the EIF also signed a second agreement with Microfinance Ireland to support 2,100 micro-entrepreneurs through an additional EUR 30 million in loans under the European Commission's EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI).