EU unveils plans to issue 50 bln euros in bonds

The European Commission on Friday announced plans to issue 50 billion euros (52.8 billion U.S. dollars) of EU-Bonds to finance the NextGenerationEU recovery program between July and December.

The funds for the temporary recovery instrument were aimed at supporting member states’ economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and helping build a greener, more digital and more resilient Europe.

To finance NextGenerationEU, the European Commission aims to raise around 800 billion euros from capital markets between mid-2021 and the end of 2026.

Up to 9 billion euros in loans to support Ukraine may also be issued by the Commission, under a new exceptional Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) program, as well as up to 6.6 billion euros in loans under the SURE program for mitigation of temporary unemployment risks.

“In the second half of the year, we will continue to support the recovery, fund the green and digital transitions and Europe’s long-term resilience through market funding,” said Johannes Hahn, commissioner in charge of budget and administration.

In the first half of this year, the Commission issued 47.5 billion euros in EU bonds, with another bond auction planned for June 27.

Since June 2021, 118.5 billion euros have been disbursed under the NextGenerationEU program. (1 euro=1.06 U.S. dollars)