The European Investment Bank (EIB) plans to increase financing for the defense industry to help rearm the Old Continent. The changes proposed by the EIB management still have to be approved by the governing bodies.
“As the financial arm of the EU, we must contribute to ensuring the peace and security of Europe,” declared EIB President Nadia Calviño. However, she also warned in a sneaky manner that the entity should not finance the purchase of weapons or ammunition. The EIB has not had a great demand for credit for the sector, which it created a business line of 6,000 million for in 2022. But sources from the entity admit that they have no forecasts about how much loan requests could grow - once these changes are approved - in the number of credit requests it will receive in the next few years. The European Commission and bodies such as Ecofin have urged the E IB to move in this direction given the need to increase investment in Defense. Less than a month ago, 14 Union countries, including France, Germany and Italy, sent a letter to the Eib demanding some progress.