Executive Board member at the ECB, Isabel Schnabel, has cautioned that the EU’s economic recovery fund valued at 750 billion euros may not be enough to help the Eurozone economy recover from the coronavirus crisis. The need of the hour is to focus on driving spend higher to get European economies to work their way towards recovery following the damage caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Even as the US economy is poised to post a faster pace of recovery, powered by the numerous rounds of fiscal stimulus initiatives and the extended monetary easing by the Fed, in contrast, the situation in the EU looks quite grim. A failure to agree on the stimulus measures has caused significant delay in finalizing the recovery fund, holding back attempts at recovery in European countries.

Schnabel made these comments during a recent interview with a French newspaper, adding, “It’s possible that the European support plan proves to be insufficient, but that debate is premature. What matters now is that the European funds that have been approved are paid out as quickly as possible. It’s absolutely essential, any delay would be harmful.”

Governments of member nations have yet to come to an agreement with the European Commission on structural reforms even as internal politics are also proving to be a challenge in rolling out stimulus measures. For now, the European Commission is expecting to begin distributing the financial aid from its recovery fund by September, even while the US is already rolling out the third round of financial aid to its citizens and businesses.