The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved €5.1 billion of new financing to support investment by companies most impacted by COVID-19, “alongside backing clean energy, water, sustainable transport and urban development. “

This includes up to €1 billion COVID-19 support supported by the new European Guarantee Fund.

The Luxembourg-based EIB also backed an additional €994 million for medical research, new hospitals and public health, private sector COVID-19 “economic resilience lending schemes” and financing to accelerate regional economic recovery following the pandemic.

The EIB said that since the outbreak of COVID-19 it has now approved €24.9 billion to “enable public and private partners around the world to better tackle health, social and economic challenges.”

EIB president Werner Hoyer said: “The winter has not even started, and we already face what looks like a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic across Europe.

“Health systems are again under stress and we must fear that the situation will worsen in the coming months.

“In this situation, I am glad that the EIB Board has today agreed the first operation under the EIB Group’s new European Guarantee Fund, designed to help small and medium-sized companies to withstand this crisis.

“It follows the board of our subsidiary, the European Investment Fund, who has approved first EGF financing on Monday.

“Launching the European Guarantee Fund is a key step in the EIB’s rapid response to COVID-19 – a response which saw the EIB Group so far approving nearly €25 billion of high impact investment essential to fight the pandemic and foster a rapid recovery in the months and years ahead.”