Romania will contribute some EUR 52 million to the European Investment Bank's capital increase, according to the country's Government. The EIB has called for a EUR 10 billion capital increase by March 2013, in order to fuel more investments in the future.

The capital increase could generate up to EUR 180 billion to invest in the EU economy. “In a general discussion, all the bigger countries providing a lot of the capital were tending in that direction,” said Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan. Germany, France and Italy and the UK together make up 60 percent of the bank’s cash base and guarantees.

The European Commission and the EIB said that the EUR 10 billion of extra paid-in capital would allow the bank to lend up to EUR 60 billion over the next four years to support SMEs, to build road, rail and air links or to promote ‘clean’ energy generation. With the partnership of private investors, that figure would rise to EUR 180 billion.

The European Investment Bank is the world’s largest supranational issuer of bonds. Last year the bank raised EUR 76 billion on the capital markets. The European Investment Bank has a balance sheet representing EUR 472 billion.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: EIB)