Erste's Hungarian unit gets 100 mln euro EBRD loan

BUDAPEST, July 10 (Reuters) - Erste Bank Hungary has received a 100 million euro loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to finance small and medium sized enterprises, Erste said in a statement on Friday.

The bank, a unit of Austria's Erste Bank (ERST.VI) and one of Hungary's biggest retail lenders, will use the money to finance firms with fewer than 250 employees and less than 50 million euros in annual turnover, Erste said.

"Our goal is to help our current and future customers get through the (global economic) crisis so they can stay in business," Erste said.

The loan is part of a joint pledge by the EBRD, the World Bank Group and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to provide over 24.5 billion euros to support the region's banking sector.

Hungary's economy is expected to shrink by 6.7 percent this year as export markets dry up, government spending is cut and domestic consumption falls.

Erste, emerging Europe's third-biggest lender, in April agreed a capital injection, in which the Austrian government and private investors injected a total of 2.7 billion euros in non-voting equity and hybrid debt. [ID:nLT199857] (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi, editing by Will Waterman)