For the first time since 2013, Luxembourg is borrowing money. The loan to the tune of two billion euros no less, was prepared a few weeks and was officially confirmed by the Finance Ministry at the end of last week.

The loan, says Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna, is a necessary step to co-finance public investments of eight billion euros that was planned by Xavier Bettel’s government for the period from 2014 to 2017.

In the end, “more than three-quarters of public investment was financed from current revenues, and only a quarter from borrowed money,” stated Gramegna, who sees “a signal of solid public finances and fiscal responsibility.”

The new short-term loan was set up for ten years, maturing in February 2027.

The Caisse d’Epargne (BCEE), Banque Internationale de Luxembourg (BIL), BGL BNP Paribas, Bank of China, Deutsche Bank and Société Générale contributed to the loan launch.

The Ministry of Finance welcomes the fact that demand has exceeded 3.5 times the supply to investors.

The two billion euro loan was lent at a fixed rate of 0.74% per annum, the lowest interest rate ever contracted by the Luxembourg State.