BRUSSELS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Eurogroup finance ministers agreed on Thursday night on a financial package to combat the fallouts from coronavirus, but without the so-called Eurobonds.

Wopke Hoekstra, the Dutch Minister of Finance, said on Twitter immediately after the meeting that "we have put a comprehensive package on the table that will help countries finance the medical costs, that will help companies and our employees."

The European Stability Mechanism can provide financial help to countries without conditions for medical expenses. It will also be available for economic support, but with conditions, he tweeted.

"We are and will remain opposed to #Eurobonds. We think this concept will not help Europa or NL on the long-term," he said, stressing the long-standing Dutch opposition to the Eurobonds.

Lately being referred to as coronabonds due to the coronavirus, the Eurobonds are joint European loans that the Eurogroup states as a whole guarantee. Southern European countries have pushed for it, but northern European countries resist it, as that could effectively mean the richer countries pay for the poorer ones. Enditem

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