ADB triples COVID-19 response package to $20 billion
The package expands ADB’s $6.5 billion initial response announced on 18 March, adding $13.5 billion in resources to help ADB’s developing member countries counter the severe macroeconomic and health impacts caused by COVID-19. The $20 billion package includes about $2.5 billion in concessional and grant resources.
ADB’s most recent assessment, released on 3 April, estimates the global impact of the pandemic at between 2.3% and 4.8% of gross domestic product. Regional growth is forecast to decline from 5.2% last year to 2.2% in 2020.
The new package includes the establishment of a COVID-19 pandemic response option under ADB’s countercyclical support facility. Up to $13 billion will be provided through this new option to help governments of developing member countries implement effective countercyclical expenditure programs to mitigate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus on the poor and the vulnerable. Grant resources will continue to be deployed quickly for providing medical and personal protective equipment and supplies from expanded procurement sources.
Some $2 billion from the $20 billion package will be made available for the private sector. Loans and guarantees will be provided to financial institutions to rejuvenate trade and supply chains. Enhanced microfinance loan and guarantee support and a facility to help liquidity-starved small and medium-sized enterprises, including those run by female entrepreneurs, will be implemented alongside direct financing of companies responding to, or impacted by, COVID-19.
