(Bloomberg) -- Italy requested more than 28 billion euros ($33 billion) in funds under the European Commission’s SURE unemployment support program, its finance ministry said in a statement on its website.

Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri and Labor Minister Nunzia Catalfo sent a formal request to EU officials outlining how the money will be used, according to the statement. The funds will help prolong support measures for workers, with Italy’s productive capacity to “remain below normal for some time, with high risk of unemployment,” the ministers wrote.

Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency is a 100 billion-euro program, designed to facilitate more generous wage support for furloughed workers and the self-employed in some countries and help others with existing schemes.

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