More than $180 billion deployed to developing world for COVID-19
Three major development banks have allocated more than $180 billion to poor and vulnerable nations to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19.
The Asian Development Bank on Monday tripled the size of its response to the coronavirus pandemic to $20 billion and approved measures to streamline its operations for quicker and more flexible delivery of assistance.
The International Monetary Fund announced Tuesday “immediate debt service relief to 25 of the IMF’s member countries under the IMF’s revamped Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust to help address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The value of this debt relief is currently $500 million, including the recent United Kingdom pledge of $185 million and another $100 million by Japan.
These moves follow last week’s announcement by the World Bank to “deploy up to $160 billion over the next 15 months to help countries protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses, and bolster economic recovery.”
“This pandemic threatens to severely set back economic, social and development gains in Asia and the Pacific, reverse progress on poverty reduction and throw economies into recession,” said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa.
“The risks posed by the coronavirus are especially high for millions of people who live in poverty or have only recently emerged from it,” tweeted the World Bank.
The risks posed by the coronavirus are especially high for millions of people who live in poverty or have only recently emerged from it. https://t.co/u7RlbYbFyu via @WorldBank
— World Bank Kenya (@WorldBankKenya) April 3, 2020
The global impact of the pandemic is estimated at 2.3% to 4.8% of gross domestic product. Regional growth is forecast to decline from 5.2% last year to 2.2% in 2020, according to the Asian Development Bank’s April 3 assessment.
The World Health Organization, for which the United States announced Tuesday it is halting funding support, is collaborating with the multilateral banks, other UN agencies and the broader global community to centralize information and streamline targeted support.
The U.S. provides financial support to the three major development banks and traditionally holds the presidency of the World Bank, currently held by David Malpass.
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