Thanks to financial support under the Capacity Building Investments Window of EaSI (Programme for Employment and Social Innovation), two microfinance institutions in Romania will have more capacity to provide microloans to small businesses.

Patria Credit will receive RON 10 million to grow its portfolio targeting particularly vulnerable clients excluded from the formal financial sector; and OMRO Romania will receive RON 6.5 million to acquire and implement new IT solutions aimed at increasing efficiency and strengthening credit risk analysis.

European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen, said: “I am delighted with the signature of the first EaSI Capacity Building agreements in Romania. The EU support will allow Patria Credit and OMRO Romania to boost their capacity to provide microfinance to micro-entrepreneurs, including vulnerable persons, who face difficulties in accessing finance. This is a sound investment in a more inclusive Europe.”

The European Commission's Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) aims at supporting the EU's objective of

• high level employment,
• adequate social protection,
• fighting against social exclusion and poverty and
• improving working conditions.

The scheme was launched in June 2015 and is funded by the European Commission and managed by the European Investment Fund. It provides support to financial intermediaries that offer microloans to entrepreneurs or finance to social enterprises that would not have been able to gain finance otherwise due to risk considerations.