EU to kick off pandemic plan with 10 billion euro bond issue -French minister

FILE PHOTO: French President Emmanuel Macron's European Affairs advisor Clement Beaune leaves the Elysee palace in Paris, France, August 29, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo

PARIS - In an interview with French financial daily Les Echos, Beaune also said that more than 100 billion euros would be injected into the European economy from this year.

Beaune said the European Commission would launch the debt issuance process on June 1 by calling on big European and international banks and the securities would be issued in June.

"The market appetite should be very major and the interest rates very favourable," he told Les Echos.

Asked whether the new bonds would be called corona-bonds, he said "let's avoid this radioactive term", and added that with the recovery package an embryonic European Union treasury was taking shape.

Proceeds of the issue would be spent from July onwards and by the end of the year Europe will inject more than 100 billion euros into its economy to finance the recovery of its member states, he said.

($1 = 0.8179 euros)

 

(Reporting by GV De Clercq; Editing by Giles Elgood and David Gregorio)