The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is extending a €10mn mortgage credit line to Intesa Sanpaolo Banka Bosnia and Herzegovina for on-lending to private borrowers for housing purposes. 

The new credit line addresses growing demand and is an extension of a €15mn mortgage line approved in July 2019, announced the EBRD on its website on March 9.

Sub-loans to private individuals will finance improvements to the condition of housing, where there is significant potential, especially in relation to energy efficiency and savings. Developing the housing stock is also expected to boost mortgage lending in the country.

Manuela Naessl, EBRD head of Bosnia & Herzegovina, said: “The extension of the mortgage line comes at a critical time as banks strive to maintain their lending for housing despite the COVID-19 crisis. We are pleased that together with our partner Intesa Sanpaolo Banka we continue to support long-term financing. We are particularly happy that this credit line will support many people in Bosnia & Herzegovina in securing a new or better home.”

Marco Trevisan, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo Banka, said: “We are extremely pleased that with the support of the EBRD we can provide our customers with more favourable loans which can be used to improve housing conditions and achieve better energy efficiency.

“We are convinced that now, when we are going through very difficult living and working conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this new initiative by Intesa Sanpaolo Banka will substantially support the mortgage and housing sector in Bosnia & Herzegovina and will make sure that our customers are able to obtain products that help them to fulfil their dreams and aspirations.”

Intesa Sanpaolo Banka Bosnia and Herzegovina, a subsidiary of the Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo, is a longstanding partner of the EBRD and serves the whole territory of Bosnia, with a wide network of branches. Since it began operations in Bosnia in 1996, the EBRD has invested more than €2.7mn in 191 projects in the country.