⁍ The European Commission is exploring using auctions to sell bonds to finance the EU’s post-pandemic recovery programmes.

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⁍ Details on the tools the EU, currently a small borrower with a modest debt pile of just over 50 billion euros, will use to take on huge additional liabilities have been eagerly awaited.

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– The European Union plans to ramp up its issuance of government bonds to fund economic recovery programs, Reuters reports. The first bonds to fund the EU’s 100-billion-euro unemployment plan will be sold later this month, but the EU plans to use auctions to sell bonds in the future. Most government debt is issued at auction, with banks acting as dealers for the borrower purchasing bonds which they then sell on to investors. The same banks are usually responsible for ensuring orderly trading in the secondary market, so that government debt remains highly liquid and appealing to investors.