29 July 2020

Chairman Cesare Bisoni speaks about how UniCredit is part of the solution to tackle the effects of the pandemic

2:00 min

“The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Italian and international economy will be significant. It will impact all sectors, the financial one included. As a bank we are playing an important role as part of the solution to get the economy going again.” This is what UniCredit Chairman Cesare Bisoni stated in an exclusive interview on Riparte L’italia.

 

“The Italian banking system,” adds Bisoni, “is much stronger today. UniCredit, thanks to the successful execution of the Transform 2019 strategic plan, had both strengthened and de-risked the balance sheet as well as well commenced its digital transformation before the crisis hit. This has enabled us to support our clients, even in such an unprecedented context”.

 

For example, in Italy, following the Liquidity Decree, UniCredit has provided loans of up to €30,000 and €800,000 respectively as well as those up to €5 million guaranteed by the Central Guarantee Fund and SACE; the bank disbursed almost €1.5 billion to approximately 71,000 Italian companies that applied for loans of up to €30,000. The Group has also accepted about 205,000 moratorium applications in Italy for a total of €23.9 billion to households and businesses.

 

As our economies are opening up, it is essential to look to the future and restart the economic machine. To do so we need to  start from the ground and champion SMEs, enabling them to act as a driving force for the economy. UniCredit is fully committed to supporting the economies where it is present and to help the relaunch “from the bottom up”, starting with those companies that forms the important backbone of our economies.

(All figures updated to 30 June 2020)