EU to borrow EUR800 bln to fund recovery from COVID-19

The European Commission announced on Wednesday that it would borrow EUR800 billion from the capital market in current prices until 2026 to fund the European Union's (EU) massive plan to bail out its COVID-stricken economy.

A pizza restaurant is seen with tables filled with plush toys instead of human customers in central Warsaw, Poland, April 13, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)
A pizza restaurant is seen with tables filled with plush toys instead of human customers in central Warsaw, Poland, April 13, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)

A diversified funding strategy was created to ensure that the EU member states would receive loans under the package known as the NextGenerationEU at an advantageous rate.

The EU has set December 2058 as a deadline for itself to fulfil all the repayment, and plans to generate new own resources to strengthen the repayment capability.

Making the announcement at a press conference, European Commissioner for Budget and Administration Johannes Hahn also urged EU member states which have not ratified the Own Resources Decision to do so as soon as possible.

"The message is clear: as soon as the Commission has been legally enabled to borrow, we are ready to get going," said Hahn.

So far, Germany, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Finland, Romania, the Netherlands, Ireland and Lithuania have not ratified the Decision. All other 17 have ratified it, according to Hahn.

The EU has decided to release a historic stimulus package worth EUR1.8 trillion in 2018 prices, or over EUR2 trillion in current prices, to help the bloc tackle the economic fallout of the pandemic and achieve a greener and more digital recovery.

Xinhua