By Rebecca Christie
Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The European Investment Bank said Iceland, Libya, Iraq and Cambodia have been added to the list of countries eligible to receive loans, under a newly adopted mandate that takes effect Nov. 1.
The Luxembourg-based EIB will have access to an additional 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion), including 1 billion euros for “southern Mediterranean countries undertaking political reforms.” The new scope also includes 2 billion euros for climate-related action, on top of the EIB’s existing financial capacity of 25.8 billion euros, the bank and the European Commission said in a statement.
The new mandate “should be instrumental to help EIB to take part in our joint efforts to provide support to our Mediterranean partners in their democratic transition process and more generally to support pre-accession and partner countries to withstand the crisis,” said European Union Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn in the statement.
The EIB is the EU’s arm for financing investment projects like energy and road networks.