German state-owned development bank Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) has announced that it awarded more loans to medium-sized business in 2004 than in the previous year. In 2004, KfW awarded loans with a total volume of Ђ14bn to SMEs, higher than the previous year's level of Ђ13.8bn. Taking all programmes into consideration, however, the bank provided funding of nearly Ђ63bn, down on the 2003 figure of nearly Ђ72bn.
KfW said this drop in total funding was down to exceptional effects. For this year, KfW hopes to provide yet more loans to SMEs. It is pleased that it managed to provide higher funding in 2004 as investment in Germany is on the downturn. However, the bank does not believe that the economy will provide a boost this year - KfW predicts economic growth of just 1.3 per cent. KfW will standardise its loan products this year, bringing it savings on processing costs. These savings will then be used to offer SMEs more attractive conditions.
