COMMISSION DISBURSES €14.1 BILLION UNDER SURE TO 12 MEMBER STATES

The European Commission has disbursed €14.137 billion to 12 EU Member States in the seventh installment of financial support under the SURE instrument. As part of today's operations, Belgium has received €2 billion, Bulgaria €511 million, Cyprus €124 million, Greece €2.54 billion, Spain €3.37 billion, Italy €751 million, Lithuania €355 million, Latvia €113 million, Malta €177 million, Poland €1.56 billion, Portugal €2.41 billion and Estonia €230 million. This is the first time that Bulgaria and Estonia are receiving funding under the instrument. The other ten EU countries have already benefitted from loans under SURE.

These SURE loans will assist the Member States in addressing sudden increases in public expenditure to preserve employment following the coronavirus pandemic. Specifically, they will help Member States cover the costs directly related to the financing of national short-time work schemes, and other similar measures that they have put in place as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, including for the self-employed. Today's disbursements follow the issuance of the seventh social bond under the EU SURE instrument, which attracted considerable interest from investors amid challenging market conditions in recent days.

With this SURE disbursement, the EU has provided nearly €90 billion in back-to-back loans. All EU Member States which have asked to benefit from the scheme have received part or all of the requested amount. The overview of the amounts disbursed so far is available online, as are the full amounts per Member State.