The European Investment Bank (EIB) said Wednesday that their annual financing to Greece as well as the budget earmarked for future investment plans in the country reached record levels in 2020, ekathimerini.com reports. The Luxembourg-based institution said that 2.8 billion euros of new support for high-impact private and public investment across Greece were last year agreed between the EIB, the European Investment Fund (EIF) – whose mission is to help Europe’s micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) access finance – and Greek partners.
Meanwhile, EIB said it approved future investments of 4.3 billion euros.
Officials said financing in Greece last year represented the third-largest engagement in the European Union as a percentage of national GDP. At the same time, EIB financing in the country represented the second largest per capita engagement in the bloc.
In 2020, financing from the EU’s investment bank was primarily aimed at helping Greek companies navigate the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, speed up the transition to renewable energy sources, and improve road safety.
“The 2.8 billion euros of new EIB and EIF financing agreed last year helps Greek companies – and, mostly, small and medium enterprises – to overcome the Covid-19 challenges and supports energy transition, climate action and investment in infrastructure,” Christos Staikouras, Greece’s finance minister and EIB governor, noted during a videoconference on Wednesday.
“Furthermore, the EUR 4.3 billion of new financing approved by the EIB for Greece – which consists a historic high for EIB’s contribution in Greece and is almost three times higher compared to 2019 – guarantees that the EIB Group will further strengthen its role as a key technical and financial partner of Greece,” he added.
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