Press Release: EIB Board of Governors’ meeting 2009 EIB lending could reach EUR 70 bn in 2009

The European Investment Bank intends to raise its total lending in the European Union and Pre-Accession countries to as much as EUR 70 bn in 2009 in response to strong demand for its funding in the current tough economic and financial climate. Loan signatures in the European Union from October 2008 to end-May 2009 amounted to EUR 46.9 bn – a rise of 63% over the same period to May 2008. Disbursements in the same period rose 37% year-on-year, to EUR 35.8 bn. The EIB committed itself last December to a European Economic Recovery Package that would increase overall lending in both 2009 and 2010 by some 30 percent, or EUR 15 bn, over the more typical annual total of around EUR 45 bn, provided it could identify enough suitable projects.