The European Commission has issued another series of social bonds

The European Commission (EC) announced on Wednesday that it had issued additional € 9 billion worth of bonds due in 2036 under the SURE program to protect jobs and workers and mitigate the negative socio-economic consequences of the new coronavirus pandemic. This is the fifth issue of bonds under the EU SURE instrument and the second issue in 2021. According to the EC, Wednesday's issue aroused great investor interest, thanks to which the EU executive regained good price conditions, which are transferred directly to EU member states. European Commissioner for Budget and Administration Johannes Hahn said on this occasion that this was another promising sign that the acquisition of funding for the next generation EU instrument would be successful. Demand for fifteen-year bonds almost exceeded supply. Wednesday's bond was valued at a yield of 0.228% and these favorable conditions are transferred directly to the beneficiary Member States. After the first four issues, 15 EU Member States have so far received almost € 53.5 billion in follow-up loans under the SURE instrument. Following Wednesday's transaction, 16 Member States will receive a total of € 62.5 billion under SURE. In the course of 2021, the EC would like to raise another more than 25 billion euros by issuing bonds under the SURE instrument. To date, the Commission has disbursed a total of € 53.5 billion to 15 Member States after four SURE bond issues: Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Croatia, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Italy . Bonds issued by the EU under the SURE instrument are referred to as social investment bonds. This gives investors the certainty that the funds mobilized will actually be used for social purposes.