EU recovery fund could be repurposed over Ukraine, German finance minister says

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner speaks through a spending budget session, in the plenary corridor of the decrease home of the German parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany March 22, 2022. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi

BERLIN, March 26 (Reuters) – The European Union restoration fund set up to help the bloc get well from the COVID-19 pandemic could be repurposed in light-weight of the war in Ukraine, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner was quoted as indicating on Saturday.

“In watch of the altered situation, I am open to prioritising the obtainable funds,” Lindner explained to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper.

The minister who qualified prospects the pro-company Absolutely free Democrats (FDP) added that what is desired are “investments in infrastructure, electrical power and competitiveness, but not extra condition consumption and postponed reforms”.

In an unparalleled go to avoid economic fragmentation because of to the pandemic, EU nations around the world agreed in 2020 to jointly borrow 800 billion euros ($878 billion) to shell out on rebuilding their economies to be greener and additional digitised.

The EU will explore in a few months no matter if it requires to jointly borrow additional money in response to the troubles created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European Financial Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said on Tuesday. L5N2VP2ZB]

France is major phone calls for new EU personal debt, while Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and other countries oppose this sort of new borrowing now, arguing that the financial effects of the war in Ukraine is continue to unclear and that only 74 billion euros of the fund has been disbursed so much.

($1 = .9107 euros)

Reporting by Emma Thomasson
Editing by Helen Popper

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Rely on Ideas.