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The fund will be formed by SID bank as part of a funding scheme for SMEs approved by the government on Friday.

EUR 380m will be provided by the bank in the form of refundable funds SID acquired through loans from the international financial markets and the European Investment Bank (EIB), while the rest will be provided by the state.

The fund will provide four lines of credit. By far the greatest - EUR 333m - will be available for SMEs development and promotion.

The goal is to fund at least 100 development projects and by the end of 2016 the fund is to help at least 1,000 micro, small and medium sized companies and preserve up to 30,000 jobs.

"Today is a special day for the economy," Stepišnik said. He pointed to the situation in Slovenia's banking sector. When this situation is resolved, the situation in the economy will improve as well, he said.

"Last year the banking sector took EUR 2.5bn from the economy. That's a lot of money," he said, adding that companies were in poor state financially.

Svilan expressed satisfaction as well. "Small and medium sized companies are the basic potential of Slovenia's economy but their access to funding is limited or the conditions are very strict," Svilan said, adding that companies will be able to draw funds as of mid-October.