French government to inject 2 billion euros into EDF

France will inject around US $2.27 billion (2 billion euros) into French multinational electric utility company EDF, Finance and Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told RTL radio.

The minister’s comments followed the announcement that EDF plans a right issue to raise capital, and Le Maire said that this step does not translate into a full nationalisation of the utility company. “For the market, for investors, it’s a strong signal. You can have confidence in EDF,” Le Maire said.

EDF said on Friday it was planning a rights issue to raise around 2.5 billion euros ($2.84 billion) to offset the financial impact they had when the government asked them to sell power below the market prices.

The French utility has suffered financial hit due to setbacks. The technical problems at the nuclear plants forced the company to take off its capacity for maintenance.

EDF said that the reduction in its nuclear power output will reduce its EBITDA core profit in 2022 by an estimated 11 billion euros.