Investment Plan for Europe: Just under EUR 600 million boost to investment with four agreements across three countries
Four agreements benefitting from the support of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe, are being signed today. The agreements include EUR 250 million to support upgrading public infrastructure in Lisbon and EUR 230 million in loans for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Greece. To recap, as of mid-October, the operations approved under the EFSI now represent a total financing volume of EUR 24.8 billion which is expected to trigger a total investment of around EUR 138 billion. Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, said: “Today’s agreements provide further evidence that the Investment Plan is working to deliver on our number one priority: stimulating investment for the purpose of job creation. We are beginning to see a substantial increase in the number of agreements being signed. This shows strong support for our recent proposal to extend the EFSI. It is particularly pleasing that these agreements demonstrate that the Plan is working right across Europe.” (