OREANDA-NEWS. October 30, 2008. Since the beginning of 2008 the SME’s loan portfolio of the Russian Bank for Development has grown by 49% and exceeded RUR 9 billion resulting 9 months of operations in the current year, reported the press-centre of RBD.

Presently 82 banks are involved in the SME Lending Support Program. This year 173 agreements have been signed with the counter-party banks and 1180 loans have been extended to SMEs.

Alongside the loan portfolio growth the positive dynamics of key indicators of the SME Support Program’s implementation is registered. It is shown in the revenue growth, number of new jobs and volume of tax proceeds.

Moreover positive changes affected the loan portfolio breakdown:

-    the share of loans to industrial enterprises grew by 6%,

-    the terms of loans increased: number of loans with a maturity of over 2 years grew by 13%.