Brussels, Apr 17 (IANS): The European Commission intends to approve the European Union's (EU) member states' recovery and resilience plans by summer and then begin to disburse funds from the Recovery and Resilience Facility accordingly, a top official said here.

The Commission's Executive Vice-President responsible for economy Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday that the facility, the bulk of the 750 billion euro ($898 billion) recovery fund, will provide 312.5 billion euros in grants and up to 360 billion euros in loans, reports Xinhua news agency.

Dombrovskis said that with the approaching deadline of April 30 for the submittal of such plans, there were some countries that seemed more prepared than others.

He, however, expressed conviction that the deadline will be met.

"Some member states are nearly there and submitting their plans by the end of April is achievable. For others, this looks more difficult.

"Finalisation will require somewhat more work for a couple more weeks," he told a press conference following a virtual meeting by the EU's Finance Ministers.

He said Margrethe Vestager, the Commission's Executive Vice-President responsible for competition, updated ministers on how the EU rules are supporting the economy in the context of the pandemic and recovery.