Late last week, Greek officials and the European Commission signed the first funding agreement as part of Greece’s national recovery and resilience plan, Greece 2.0. This aspect of the Next Generation EU plan covers financial support of 17.8 billion euros.
The agreement, which was approved by the EU earlier this month, tells of Greece receiving around 31 billion euros from the European Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) between 2021 and 2026, in the form of grants and loans. The plan calls for the creation of some 200,000 job positions through 68 reforms and 106 flagship investments focused on the green segment, digital, employment, and private investments. The Greece 2.0 commercial below was released earlier this summer.
According to the news, the agreement covers the first 13.5 billion euros in aid, and was signed between EU Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni and Finance Minister Christos Staikouras and Deputy Finance Minister Theodoros Skylakakis. By month’s end, Greece will receive the first installment of some 4 billion euros in pre-financing. Minister Skylakakis offered this in a statement:
“The investments and reforms included in ‘Greece 2.0’ aim to lead the country’s economy, society and institutions to a new era.”
Skylakakis went on to say the “Greece 2.0” plan will lead the country towards a more competitive and green productive model, a more efficient and digitized state with less bureaucracy, and a growth-friendly tax system. He says a second agreement of the plan, concerning loans worth 12.7 billion euros, is expected to be completed soon.
The financial aid by the EU is a one-off initiative intended to help repair the immediate economic and social damage brought about by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Partially sources from GTP