This unique recovery program has also passed into history under the name "European Recovery Program" (ERP). The objective of this initiative was to enable the European nations after the disastrous destructions of World War II to reconstruct their economies. Germany, the former enemy, also was to return to the family of nations in political terms. The program was intended for Europe as a whole, but the European countries in the Soviet sphere of influence and the Soviet-occupied zone of Germany were hindered by Moscow to accept the aid.

Under this program, the U.S. Congress authorized the provision of some 13 billion dollars over a period of three and a half years. The money was used to finance goods produced in the United States and needed in Europe, but which the European countries could not buy because of a lack of foreign exchange. For the goods delivered, German importers had to pay the equivalent amount in German currency into a special account with the Central Bank. This counterpart account was initially kept by the U.S.A.; after Germany had paid the debts fixed at the London Conference on German External Debts in 1953 out of the Federal Budget, the counterpart account passed into German ownership and formed the basis of the ERP special fund. To this day, loans generally at low interest have been granted from this fund to promote small and medium-sized businesses in particular.