Finance Minister in EUROGROUP meeting to approve the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis Support package

Minister Scicluna welcomes the agreement on the Pandemic Crisis Support and calls for more EU regulatory clarity for banks

During a videoconference meeting with the Finance Ministers of the Euro Area member states held on 8 May 2020, Minister for Finance and Financial Services Edward Scicluna welcomed the agreement reached on the features and standardised terms of the Pandemic Crisis Support to be provided by the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

This new instrument will be available to all Euro Area member states and can be used to support domestic financing of direct and indirect healthcare, cure, and prevention-related costs due to COVID-19. Its size will be 2% of individual member state Gross Domestic Product, as a benchmark.

During the discussion about the countries’ financial packages, Minister Scicluna said that, “Further clarity from the Commission would encourage the expansion of more bank lending. Among the measures which could be considered is the treatment of public guaranteed loans for NPL purposes and the temporary relaxation of CRR regulations which affect the banks’ risk weightings. The government guarantees loans are aimed at safeguarding lending to consumers and businesses”.  

Eurogroup ministers will reconvene next week to continue working on measures aimed at assisting the recovery of the European economy.