The European Commission (EC) on Friday endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Greece’s fourth payment request for €2.3 billion in loans (net of pre-financing) under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU.
Following its assessment of the payment request, submitted by Greece on 17 April 2024, the EC has preliminarily concluded that Greece has satisfactorily completed the one target set out in the Council Implementing Decision for the fourth loan instalment, which required that a cumulative €4.5 billion of RRF loan contracts are signed by financial institutions with companies to support private investment.
The 2.3 billion loan payment is aimed to cover important steps in the delivery of investments that will drive positive change for citizens and businesses in Greece in the areas of the green transition, digitalisation, increasing export capacity, economies of scale and innovation.
The positive preliminary assessment “constitutes yet another reward for the country’s consistency in meeting the milestones required by the Recovery Fund,” said Greek Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance Nikos Papathanasis.
“With planning, reliability, and determination, we continue our reform policy by implementing everything we committed to, aiming for sustainable development while respecting fiscal rules, regional and social cohesion, addressing the investment gap and enhancing competitiveness and entrepreneurship,” Papathanasis concluded.
Greece closer to receiving 2.3 billion euro loan payment
Friday’s positive preliminary assessment has been now forwarded by the EC to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), which has four weeks to deliver its opinion.
The payment to Greece can take place following the EFC’s opinion, and the adoption of a payment decision by the Commission.
If granted, this payment request will bring the funds paid out to Greece under the Recovery and Resilience Facility to €17.2 billion, out of which €9.62 billion in loans.
This corresponds to forty-seven percent of all the funds in the Greek plan, with twenty-two percent of all the milestones and targets in the plan fulfilled.
Greek recovery and resilience plan
The Greek recovery and resilience plan includes a wide range of investment and reform measures, financed by €18.2 billion in grants and €17.7 billion in loans.
The payment request preliminary endorsed on Friday follows three previous payments. The most recent payment request was endorsed by the Commission on 28 November 2023 and paid out on 22 March 2023.
The Loan Facility was established in 2021 as part of Greece’s Recovery and Resilience Plan to address the low level of private investment and thus accelerate economic development and economic growth.
The scheme offers companies the opportunity to benefit from easier access to finance through loans, as well as equity support for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Examples of investments funded by the plan are the replacement of existing electricity consumption meters and metering systems with digital ones, investments in machinery for construction and civil engineering works, the development of a photovoltaic park, the construction of wind farms, and increasing the production capacity of the industrial plants by adding new production lines.