Capital goods for SME: the new Sabatini Law

The plafond of funds made available to small and medium-size enterprises in Italy under the new Sabatini Law comes to 2.5 billion euro for financing acquisitions of machinery, plant and brand new digital technologies

With enactment of the new Sabatini Law on 31 March 2014 Italian small and medium-size enterprises (SME) gain access to grants for the acquisition of machinery, plant, other capital goods for their enterprises including brand new equipment for production use and investing in hardware and software and other digital technologies. The purpose of financing created through a special law decree (art. 2 law decree no. 69/2013) is to strengthen competitiveness in the Italian production system and facilitate access to credit for SMEs operating in all sectors of production, including agriculture and fishing, as well as to finance leasing operations. The measure, providing a ceiling of 2.5 billion euro which can be raised to the maximum of 5 billion, is of great importance for  agricultural mechanization because it comes as one of the few forms of government support for the sector along with funding available to agriculture through European Union Rural Development Programs. In detail, the new Sabatini Law can provide 100% coverage of the investments made by industries at the facilitated interest rate of 2.75% on installments over a maximum of five years and coverage can be set up either through banks or by using leasing. Each company can make investments of a minimum of 2,000 euro to a maximum of 2 million euro and can request more than one financing over time. Applications for grants can be made online through forms downloaded and sent by registered mail to one of the participating intermediary banks working with the public Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and Ministry of Economic Development. These requests are handled in the chronological order in which they arrive until the funds are exhausted. The history of the Sabatini Law dates back to the 1960s and carries the name of Armando Sabatini, a worker and trade union official in the Emilia Romagna Region who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Christian Democratic Party from 1948 to 1968. The law, no. 28 1965 no. 1329, was originally a “Measure for the acquisition of new machine tools” (GU no. 311 of 14.12.1965) which, through changes and refinancing over the decades, was transformed into an instrument for applying incentives in support of the nation's well established and successful small industries. More information on the new Sabatini Law and list of the banks participating can be obtained by filing a request for financing or on the Ministry of Economic Development website, www.sviluppoeconomico.gov.it.