2% loans launched for Parisiens

Residents of Paris are eligible for special loans with interest rates of 2-4%.

The loans were launched by the Mayor of Paris to help residents pay for courses, healthcare, driving lessons and specific debts.

Crédit municipal de Paris director Bernard Candiart, who is in charge of the scheme, said: "This is not a loan for shopping. We're not going to lend money for a flat screen TV."

Applicants can borrow from €300 to €3,000 or €5,000 in "exceptional" cases and pay it back over 36 months.

If successful the scheme could be extended to cover the whole of the Ile-de-France region at the end of 2009.

It is being organised among four banks; la Banque postale, la Caisse d’épargne, le Crédit coopératif and Laser Cofinoga.

The banks will take charge of half the risk with the rest coming from the Caisse des dépôts.

Le Crédit municipal de Paris wants to lend one thousand of the microcredit loans before the end of the year.