File photo: CGTN

France and Germany on Monday proposed a 500 billion euro ($542 billion) fund to finance the relaunch of the European Union's economy, which is facing the biggest post-war crisis because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"To support a sustainable recovery that reestablishes and reinforces growth in the EU, Germany and France back the creation of an ambitious, temporary and targeted recovery fund," said a joint statement, adding that it would be financed partly by "borrowing from the market in the name of the EU".