EU ministers approve 4 more national recovery plans

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union finance ministers approved on Monday the national recovery plans of Croatia, Cyprus, Lithuania and Slovenia, paving the way for the disbursement of EU pre-financing for projects envisaged under the schemes.

The national plans are part of the EU's unprecedented 800 billion euro ($943.5 billion) scheme to make economies after the COVID-19 pandemic greener and more fit for the digital age. Each of the EU's 27 countries will get EU grants and, if wanted, cheap loans to finance such reform and investment.

The approval of the four plans takes the total for all accepted EU national recovery programmes to 16, with all the biggest economies already green-lit for implementation.

The EU pre-financing amounts to 13% of the funds allocated to each country. The European Commission borrows the money cheaply on the market using its AAA credit rating and then disburses it to each country. ($1 = 0.8479 euros)

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)