Lithuania. Republic of Lithuania

The loan has been provided to the Republic of Lithuania to finance the additional funding needed to support the measures taken to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic.

The Lithuanian government has prepared a EUR 2.5 billion Economic and Financial Action Plan containing a wide range of measures to provide the necessary support to the national economy.

Under the Action Plan, the funds will be allocated to the following objectives and key measures:

• to ensure the necessary resources for the efficient operation of healthcare and public security by purchasing protective medical gear, testing kits and other medical equipment, providing additional social guarantees for medical staff and officers working in risk-areas amongst other measures (EUR 500 million);
• to protect jobs and compensate for the loss of personal income through employee allowances, social benefits, state guarantees for deferred mortgage payments and deferral of certain utility bill payments (EUR 500 million);
• to support liquidity in the affected business sectors through tax loans and exemptions, increased guarantee limits for the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Fund and the Investment and Business Guarantees Agency (INVEGA) and other measures (EUR 500 million);
• to provide general economic stimulus by accelerating national investment programmes and increasing the State guarantee limit to develop or supplement the existing financial instruments when the State assumes the primary risk and other measures (EUR 1 billion).

The loan will not be directed to any specific project, but rather provide countercyclical funding to support NIB’s member country in its efforts to alleviate the socio-economic disruption caused by the spread of the coronavirus. It will serve as an alternative source of financing at a time of increased volatility in financial markets.

The funds will not be used to finance projects defined in the exclusion list in NIB’s sustainability policy.