The EC sold the first bonds to finance the recovery fund

The European Commission (EC) received the first 20 billion euros on the capital market from the sale of 10-year bonds to finance the recovery plan after the corona crisis, said the head of the EC on Tuesday evening, Ursula von der Leyen. "I am glad that the issue has aroused huge interest," Leyen said, adding that demand was seven times higher than supply. Debt service costs are extremely low at an interest rate of less than 0.1 percent. The EC should place € 100 billion in bonds on the market by the end of the year. Last year, the European Union approved a € 750 billion recovery program, € 800 billion at inflation-adjusted prices, Leyen said. The funds are intended to help overcome the damage caused by the pandemic. The program will be financed by the sale of common debts, which will be repaid until 2058. The EU states officially ratified the plan last week, which was a prerequisite for the start of bond sales. EU member states should receive the first money from the reconstruction fund in July. Some of them will be provided in the form of grants, some in the form of cheap loans. Governments had to submit detailed plans to the EC on how the money would be used. The EC should approve the first plans on Wednesday. Leyen then delivers the first decisions in person in Portugal and Spain. Then, according to her own words, she should still travel to Greece, Denmark and Luxembourg this week.