ADB’s support for recovery from COVID-19 pandemic in Asia-Pacific
Travel Biz News —
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been responding to the crisis from coronavirus pandemic , focusing on a broad set of challenges related to the public health emergency, its economic fallout, and the path to recovery.
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has threatened health, livelihoods, and social wellbeing across much of Asia and the Pacific.
A $20 billion comprehensive response package announced in April 2020 is providing substantial ongoing support through finance, knowledge, and partnerships to address the immediate and long-term impacts of COVID-19.
With government revenues strained due to sharp declines in economic activity, ADB has made large-scale financing available through a budget support instrument originally developed in response to the global economic crisis in 2008.
The financing will support policies and expenditures that extend social assistance, protection for economically vulnerable groups, resources for COVID-19 containment and prevention, and relief to affected workers and small businesses, according to a release issued by ADB.
In the first three months of the COVID-19 outbreaks, over $5 billion in financing has helped to alleviate the fiscal strain in several developing member countries—including India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, which received loans of $1.5 billion each; Bangladesh ($500 million loan); Bhutan, ($20 million loan); the Kyrgyz Republic ($50 million loan and grant package); and Mongolia ($100 million loan).
New loans are being extended to Bangladesh ($100 million loan), Pakistan ($300 million loan), and the Philippines ($200 million loan). An ongoing health sector project in Mongolia is receiving an extra $30 million to support COVID-19 preparedness and response, along with other resources.
In combination with financing from loans, grants are helping countries update their pandemic response plans, assess health system and economic impacts, improve regional coordination to tackle outbreaks, and build long-lasting systems to address communicable diseases.
$78 million in grants to 40 countries across Asia and the Pacific were approved for this within three months.
Quickly disbursing grants for disaster response are enabling countries to meet immediate expenses related to the pandemic. 10 countries received a total of $11.5 million in these grants by the end of April 2020.
Likewise , cofinancing from international partners for COVID-19 response is expected to reach at least $5.8 billion.
ADB is also providing knowledge to improve country response and policymaking.
Through large-scale support for economies in developing Asia, contributions to global knowledge, and relief at the local level, ADB aims to empower governments, businesses, communities, and innovators to confront and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic as swiftly as possible. Source : ADB
May 31 , 2020
