Szczurek proposes EU investment fund

The European Union needs a joint investment fund, Poland’s Minister of Finance Mateusz Szczurek told at the annual meeting of Brussels-based economic think-tank Bruegel on Thursday. The fund would be governed by the European Investment Bank and its capital leveraged via borrowing in the financial market. Then, the money would be directly invested in the selected infrastructure projects, especially energy, transportation, IT and defense. The desired amount of the capital would be €700 billion, said Szczurek. Poland’s finance minister also noted that the economic situation in Europe spoke in favor of introducing the European Fund for Investment, due to low interest rates and a potentially high impact of investments on demand. Neither governments nor private entities are keen to invest into infrastructure now, he said. The decision whether or not to create the European Fund for Investment shall be initially discussed among other EU member states’ officials. The obligation to contribute to the fund would lie with all EU countries, regardless of euro zone membership.