The European Commission has disbursed €14 billion to nine Member States in the fourth instalment of financial support to Member States under the SURE instrument. This is the first disbursement in 2021.

As a part of the February operations, Belgium has received €2 billion, Cyprus €229 million, Hungary €304 million, Latvia €72 million, Poland €4.28 billion, Slovenia €913 million, Spain €1.03 billion, Greece €728 million and Italy €4.45 billion. All nine Member States had already received financial support under SURE in 2020, under one of the first three issuances and disbursement operations that took place in 2020.

These loans will assist Member States in addressing sudden increases in public expenditure to preserve employment. Specifically, they will help Member States cover the costs directly related to the financing of national short-time work schemes, and other similar measures that they have put in place as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, including for the self-employed. February 2021 disbursements follow the issuance of the fourth social bond under the EU SURE instrument, which attracted a considerable interest by investors. The notable oversubscription was translated into favorable pricing terms, which the Commission is directly passing on to the benefitting Member States.

Till February 2021, 15 Member States have received a total of €53.5 billion under the SURE instrument. Once all SURE disbursements have been completed, Belgium will have received €7.8 billion, Cyprus €479 million, Hungary €504 million, Latvia €192 million, Poland €11.2 billion, Slovenia €1.1 billion, Spain €21.3 billion, Greece €2.7 billion and Italy €27.4 billion.

Member States can still submit requests to receive financial support under SURE which has an overall firepower of up to €100 billion.

Source: EU Press Office 2/2021