TOPSHOT - French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire (C) gestures as he and his advisors negociate with European partners on the phone before the Eurogroup meeting at the minister's office in Paris, on april 9, 2020. LUDOVIC MARIN

Euro zone finance ministers sealed a new coronavirus stimulus package on Thursday worth around half a trillion euros, but officials delayed a crucial decision on whether to issue joint debt instruments. After intense negotiations over the last week, ministers clapped via video link on Thursday night as they greenlighted three new programs, which when combined are worth 540 billion euros ($591 billion). European countries have been at loggerheads over how to fund some of the unprecedented costs associated with the pandemic. Northern European nations, traditionally more fiscally conservative than those in the south, have been unwilling to accept calls for "corona bonds" — a financial instrument that would combine debt securities from the 19 different countries that share the euro (sometimes also called Eurobonds). Member states had also struggled to agree on the terms of a 240 billion euro credit line. Despite Thursday night's breakthrough, analysts note that the announcements do not solve every issue on the table. "(The) signal of mutual support is not as strong as it should have been," economists at Berenberg bank said in a research note. One of the reasons being that "they did not resolve the dispute about joint bonds to finance a joint recovery fund," they added.

Nine EU countries asked in late March for a common debt instrument which could raise funds in public markets and help with the costs from the virus. The Netherlands, in particular, is fiercely against the idea. There are concerns that taxpayers in northern nations would be financing the massive debt piles of southern countries. Thursday's meeting culminated with the simple compromise to ask the heads of state to address this subject at a later stage. "We also agreed to work on a Recovery Fund to prepare and support the recovery … Such a fund would be temporary, targeted and commensurate with the extraordinary costs of the current crisis and help spread them over time through appropriate financing," the finance ministers said in a statement Thursday night. The wording suggests that despite the compromise to "work" on another financing instrument, the ministers don't know how this might be funded in the future. "There are still clear and expected differing views on how to finance such a fund. Some countries would like to use 'innovative financial instruments' — read Eurobonds, while others would like to find other financing sources," Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING, said in a note Thursday night.

What's been agreed?