European Investment Bank to provide $435 million loan to Türkiye

By Tuba Ongun

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide a €400 million ($435 million) loan to Türkiye to help it rebuild after the Feb. 6 earthquakes, the bank announced Wednesday.

The loan, fully guaranteed by the EU, will help restore water and wastewater infrastructure in the southern Turkish provinces that were hit by the two powerful earthquakes.

The project for which the EIB loan is earmarked includes the rehabilitation, construction and extension of water and wastewater infrastructure in devastated regions, it noted.

"As part of the Team Europe package (who pledged €3.6 billion to support in March for people in Türkiye and Syria) our €400 million in financing will respond to current needs by upgrading water infrastructure," said EIB President Werner Hoyer.

Member of the European Commission for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, said: "This is the delivery of EU solidarity with the people in Türkiye. I want to recall that Team Europe pledged more than €3 billion for people in Türkiye, including €1 billion in grants from the EU budget."

Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said the government is spending about 3% of GDP this year to rebuild quake-hit regions.