Aufbaubank: 2.85 billion euros in funding approved

From infrastructure to education and housing construction: the Sächsische Aufbaubank (SAB) approved around 2.85 billion euros in funding in 2023 (previous year: 2.37 billion euros). A total of almost 63,000 approvals were granted to companies, citizens, municipalities, associations and institutions, as the state's development bank announced in Leipzig on Tuesday.

In the area of loan promotion, SAB is increasingly focusing on sustainability, according to CEO Katrin Leonhardt. "We want to support private individuals, municipalities and companies in making climate-friendly investments and making a positive contribution to the transformation," emphasized Leonhardt. The biggest challenges are structural change with the phase-out of lignite and technological change in industry, Leonhardt emphasized.

The SAB approved just over one billion euros in infrastructure and municipal projects last year. The largest volume was allocated to programs for urban development, for strengthening Saxony's lignite mining areas and for funding in the area of school infrastructure. In the previous year, funding amounting to 145 million euros was approved for schools and sports facilities.

The housing construction sector received 418.5 million euros in funding. Subsidies amounting to 95.8 million euros were provided for affordable housing, enabling 1737 social housing units to be created. A good 212 million euros went to the environment and agriculture sector. This was used to support projects to combat the consequences of flooding and heavy rainfall as well as a good 11,000 solar balcony power plants and the repair bonus, which is intended to encourage people to repair privately used defective electrical and electronic appliances.

The SAB was founded in 1991 and is Saxony's development bank. It supports the Free State of Saxony in fulfilling its public tasks. As part of its development mandate, the SAB is primarily active in the areas of housing construction, business, infrastructure and municipalities, education and social affairs as well as environmental and agricultural issues. The funds are awarded as loans, grants or guarantees.