Press Release: Commission raises overall ceiling in balance-of-payments assistance facility

The European Commission agreed to propose an increase to €50 billion in the overall ceiling of a loan facility to help non-euro area countries in the European Union cope with balance-of-payments difficulties. The present ceiling was increased by EU finance ministers already in December to €25 billion, but the scope and intensity of the international financial crisis calls for another pre-emptive increase and to show solidarity with countries that do not yet benefit from the protective umbrella of the euro.