The ESM can finance the COVID fight now

Abstract

Member states are currently debating how to finance the fight against COVID-19. As time is pressing, practical and readily implementable solutions are needed now. Using the ESM to provide the funds needed is a reasonable and workable way forward. Italy, Spain and other states would benefit from using the ESM access to AAA funding to reinforce their debt dynamics: a combination of loan size, maturity and interest rates would strengthen debt sustainability. This column shows the stabilisation power of an ESM-ECB intervention, using existing instruments and the just announced ESM Rapid Financing Instrument, showing the case of Italy as an example. Combining ECB support with ESM funds would deliver a more resilient euro area, better placed to engage in a post-virus economic recovery. The announced EIB guarantees and the SURE unemployment re-insurance will also help countries. However, these measures are not a supplement, but a complement, to the already feasible ESM financing discussed.