ICF / New €16 million loan program to boost the growth of Catalonia’s commercial sector
15 July 2025The ICF Lidera Comerç line, promoted by the Department of Business and Employment and the Catalan Finance Institute, involves a total public contribution of €17.9 million, as interest rates will be subsidized to just 0.95% through an additional €1.9 million in funding.
The Department of Business and Employment, through the Directorate General of Commerce, and the Catalan Finance Institute (ICF) are launching a new line of loans to finance investments that promote the growth and competitiveness of businesses in the retail, hospitality, and service sectors. The line, called ICF Lidera Comerç, was jointly presented this morning by the Minister of Business and Employment, Miquel Sàmper, and the Minister of Economy and Finance, Alícia Romero.
The new line, which falls within the Catalunya Lidera Plan, is endowed with a total of 16 million euros, of which the ICF is providing 12 million, and the Directorate General of Commerce of the Department of Business and Employment is allocating 4 million. In addition to this, the same Directorate General is contributing a further 1.9 million euros, which will be used to subsidize up to 3 percentage points of the interest rate, reducing it to a fixed rate of 0.95%. In total, public funding amounts to 17.9 million euros.
During the presentation of the new loan line, which took place at the Los Extremeños retail store in Pineda de Mar, Minister Sàmper and Minister Romero agreed on the importance of retail for the towns and cities of Catalonia, and how the Catalan government wants to promote the commercial fabric by using tools that belong to the country, such as the Catalan Finance Institute. “We are supporting the commercial initiatives of SMEs and micro-enterprises with this new line aimed at scalability projects so they can grow and, therefore, generate employment,” emphasized Minister Sàmper. “We are strengthening various sectors through the great driver of transformation that is the Catalan Finance Institute, and we know that retail is a sector that needs to be nurtured and cared for,” added Minister Romero.
Details of the new line
Among the requirements, applicants must be individuals, micro-enterprises, or small or medium-sized enterprises with at least 4 years of experience in the activity to be financed; they must have at least one physical point of sale in Catalonia or plan to open one; and they must show a cumulative increase in turnover of more than 5 percentage points above the inflation rate (CPI) over the last 3 fiscal years.
The loan amounts range from 25,000 to 150,000 euros, with terms of up to 7 years and a one-year grace period. The line will open on July 14 and will remain available until the funds are exhausted.
This initiative is part of a set of actions promoted by the Department of Business and Employment together with the Catalan Finance Institute, under the umbrella of the Catalunya Lidera Plan, to foster the transformation and competitiveness of productive sectors, generate quality employment, and encourage sustainable and balanced economic growth. Alongside the existing ICF Lidera Turisme and ICF Lidera Comerç programs, two additional ones will be launched—dedicated to industry and to the Nuclear Transition Fund.