December 17, 2009updated 12 Apr 2017 4:28pm

One in two Italian firms to request payment holiday scheme

Following the launch of a moratorium on loans and leases for SMEs with good credit history earlier this year, Italian employers federation Confindustria has conducted a survey amongst 2,000 small and medium-sized enterprises to find out how many of its members were likely to request the payment deferral. Almost 35 percent of respondents (mostly SMEs with less than 50 employees) said they have already requested the payment holiday, while 13 percent are likely to do so in the near future.

By Verdict Staff

Almost one in two SMEs in Italy are likely to apply to join a government-backed payment holiday scheme, it has been found.

Following the launch of a moratorium on loans and leases for SMEs with good credit history earlier this year, Italian employers’ federation Confindustria has conducted a survey amongst 2,000 small and medium-sized enterprises to find out how many of its members were likely to request the payment deferral.

Almost 35 percent of respondents (mostly SMEs with less than 50 employees) said they have already requested the payment holiday, while 13 percent are likely to do so in the near future.

Some 43 percent of total applications have already been given the green light, while 8.5 percent have been rejected for not meeting the set criteria.

Around 60 percent of surveyed firms said they would like to use the moratorium to postpone their loans, 15.3 percent for equipment leases and 9.7 percent for real estate leases.

All major Italian lessors, including UniCredit Leasing, Banca Agrileasing and Leasint have joined the scheme.

Antonio Fabrizio