European Investment Bank (EIB) President Nadia Calviño announced that the bank would sign an agreement with the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF) in the coming days. The agreement will provide €495 million to add 5,000 new homes to Catalonia’s public housing stock.
She made the announcement on Tuesday at the World in Progress (WIP) conference, which began on Monday at the Palau de Congresos de Catalunya in Barcelona.
Calviño said the agreement was an example of how the EIB works with local authorities to improve access to housing.
She noted that over the past two years, the bank had doubled its housing financing in Spain, providing nearly €2 billion and supporting the development of 11,000 new homes.
“We are continuing to invest in construction, in renovating existing housing and in developing new materials and technologies that can make this work faster, cheaper and safer. We will keep doing so,” she added.
Multilateralism
Calviño said the meetings she attends send a clear message that “multilateralism is alive and working.” She acknowledged that it has limitations, needs reform and is facing unprecedented attacks.
“In the face of geopolitical tensions and fragmentation, we are working together better than ever. Countries are looking for reliable partners, shared solutions and institutions that can tackle global problems,” she said.
The EIB president stressed that Europe “is at the heart of this search.” She said European values are more important than ever, even as some actors put pressure on the foundations of the European project.
Calviño said that “despite the noise and the difficulties, Europe has the capacity to act” and must turn that capacity into results.
“In a world facing an economic crisis and increasingly complex challenges, no country, institution or region can succeed on its own. In Europe, we have the partners, the talent and the tools to move forward,” Calviño said.