Press Release: Italian Minister of the Economy Giulio Tremonti visits EIB

On the occasion of the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the European Investment Bank (EIB), which was held on 9 June, 2009 in Luxembourg, the Italian Minister of the Economy and Finance, Giulio Tremonti, visited the EIB’s headquarters. Mr Tremonti met Dario Scannapieco, EIB Vice-President responsible for Italy, Malta and the Balkans, and chatted with managers and Italian staff members of the Bank. The EIB is the financing arm of the European Union and provides medium and long-term loans in pursuit of the integration and development objectives laid down by the Community institutions. The EIB’s shareholders are the 27 member countries of the European Union. In 2008 the EIB provided Italy with finance totalling EUR 8.3bn (+48% compared with 2007), of which EUR 2.5bn went to small and medium-sized enterprises. At the end of 2008 outstanding loans in Italy totalled EUR 45bn.