Euro finance ministers are finalizing the financial rescue plan in the face of Coronavirus
European Union finance ministers are expected to finalize on Friday a plan under which member states are allowed to obtain loans to cope with the consequences of the emerging Coronavirus.
But the finance ministers’ talks are not expected to see any progress on a controversial issue of creating a larger rescue fund in the face of the crisis.
European Union leaders agreed last month to open a credit line for member states to cover direct and indirect health care costs related to fighting the Coronavirus epidemic.
European leaders have given their finance ministers a deadline of June 1 to activate the plan.
The issue of dealing with the economic repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic has sparked sharp differences between European capitals, as many countries in the south of the continent are to suffer more economically weak than the countries of the north.
Today’s finance ministers’ talks come after expectations from the European Commission to record “historical” economic recessions, and an incomplete recovery.
The European Commission was assigned the task of drafting an economic recovery plan following the failure of member states to agree on the size of funding for a rescue fund expected to be worth one trillion euros (1.1 trillion dollars), at least.
The Eurozone Rescue Fund (European Stability Mechanism) will release the credit line, which is one of three tracks the European Union has approved in the face of the pandemic.
