EU approved massive stimulus package

On Thursday, EU finance ministers agreed on measures in support of the economy. The ESM bailout fund will provide loans to euro area countries totaling 2% of GDP (€2bn for Slovakia) and won’t demand any reforms or austerity measures in return. The deal, though, does not include “coronabonds” jointly backed by all euro area countries. About €540bn will be provided to companies and workers in need and a new €500bn fund will be created within six months to help fund investments into needy regions. Another program, SURE, will provide Slovakia €1bn to fund kurzarbeit, a wage reimbursement scheme. Together with previously announced packages, EU countries will have a €3.2tn fiscal stimulus available, or 25% of GDP.

(etrend.sk)