Planning: France pledges €8b for growth plan

LUXEMBOURG: France will commit €8 billion ($8.7 billion) as part of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s plan to boost economic growth, according to President Francois Hollande.”To create an effect of leverage, the Juncker plan must attract other contributions – public contributions and private contributions – and I have announced that France, through the Caisse des depots and the Public Investment Bank, will put in €8 billion,” Hollande said on a visit to Luxembourg. EU leaders last December approved the broad outline of Juncker’s €315-billion investment plan, intended to kick-start growth in Europe by financing hundreds of projects. Germany has committed €15 billion to the plan and Spain €1.5 billion, but other EU member states have been slower to react. European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen welcomed the French contribution and said that the plan was progressing fast with the commitment of Member States.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2015.

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