Berlin – The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Germany’s regional development banks are making available on a 50:50 basis a EUR 400 million framework loan for financing investment in public infrastructure. The EIB and PartnerRegio, a network of development banks, signed the finance contract in Berlin today, paving the way for support for public-private partnership (PPP) projects in particular.
PPPs have become a useful tool in the efforts of national, regional and local authorities to reduce budget deficits, especially in the context of the life cycle approach. To promote investment in a number of public spheres – universities, schools, hospitals – the participating banks have now signed this finance contract with the EIB.
The members of the PartnerRegio network are Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg (ILB), Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein (IB-SH), NRW.BANK, Wirtschafts- und Infrastrukturbank Hessen (WiBank) and Thüringer Aufbaubank (TAB).
At the signing ceremony in Berlin today, EIB Vice-President Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen said: “Germany’s regions are legally bound to pursue strict austerity policies. But at the same time they have to address their investment backlog. The finance contract signed today will help to give the regions and municipalities urgently needed breathing space to take forward their investment projects.”
Karl-Heinz Boos, CEO of the Association of German Public Sector Banks (VÖB) added: “Regional infrastructure investment forms the basis of stable and sustainable growth in the common market. We therefore welcome the fact that a European bank and local institutions are decisively joining forces in this way.”
Background information:
The EIB is the European Union’s bank. Its purpose is to promote the EU’s objectives by providing long-term loans for viable projects.
PartnerRegio is a grouping of regional development banks providing support for infrastructure investment, especially PPP projects. It is coordinated by the Association of German Public Sector Banks (VÖB), a leading association of the German banking industry.
Contact:
VOEB: www.voeb.de