Governments from the 19 countries that use the euro overcame sharp differences to agree Thursday on measures that could provide more than a half-trillion euros ($550 billion) for companies, workers and health systems to cushion the economic impact of the virus outbreak.
Mario Centeno, who heads the finance ministers’ group from European Union countries, called the package of measures agreed upon “totally unprecedented… Tonight Europe has shown it can deliver when the will is there.” The deal struck Thursday among the finance ministers did not, however, include more far-reaching cooperation in the form of shared borrowing guaranteed by all member countries.