The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed in 2014 loans amounting to 77 billion euro to support investment across Europe and around the world.
Loans to projects in EU Member States came to 69 billion euro, representing 90 percent of the total, Werner Hoyer, EIB President told a press conference in Brussels Monday.
The EIB invested 1.7 billion euro last year in Mediterranean countries Algeria, Egypt, Gaza/West Bank, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia, and almost 1.4 billion euro in Asia and Latin America.
It lent 940 million to Ukraine, demonstrating the EU Bankآ’s commitment to the countryآ’s economy in the face of current challenges, he said.
The EIB remained committed to countries worst hit by the crisis, providing new lending totalling 1.6 billion euro in Greece, 1.3 billion euro in Portugal, and 932 million euro in Ireland.
Hoyer said the EIB is delivering well ahead of schedule on commitments made to the EU Member States to mobilise 180 billion euro of additional investment following a capital increase in 2013.
"We will reach our goal of 180 billion euro of additional investment across Europe during March 2015, around nine months earlier than anticipated," he noted.
The Luxembourg-based EIB is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It is said to be the largest multilateral lender and borrower in the world.