An item from late on the weekend:
- The European Union will announce a new fund in an effort to spark at least €300 billion euros of additional investment in the continent’s economy (or more than that if national governments can be convinced to contribute additional money)
- The plan, which will be announced on Wednesday
- The EU normally disburses its “structural funds” as grants
- But Jean-Claude Juncker, the new president of the European Commission, wants to use the money to leverage investment funding from the private-sector
- Said an EU official involved in drafting the plan: “less grants, more risk financing, more venture capital”
More at the Wall Street Journal article, here (may be gated): New EU Stimulus Fund to Leverage Private Sector Investment-Funding
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Meanwhile, not much movement for the euro today, 1.2360/88 or thereabouts has been the range, currently around 1.2386
