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Coronavirus Pandemic: India To Get $1 Billion Emergency Fund From World Bank

World Bank approves USD 1 billion emergency funds for India to tackle COVID-19 outbreak

People sit outside shuttered stores near the Khari Baoli spice market in Delhi, India. (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)
People sit outside shuttered stores near the Khari Baoli spice market in Delhi, India. (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)

The World Bank has approved $1 billion emergency funding for India to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed 53 lives and infected more than 2,000 people in the country.

The World Bank's first set of aid projects, amounting to $1.9 billion, will assist 25 countries, and new operations are moving forward in over 40 nations, the bank said on Thursday. The largest chunk of the emergency financial assistance has gone to India.

"In India, $1 billion emergency financing will support better screening, contact tracing, and laboratory diagnostics; procure personal protective equipment; and set up new isolation wards," the World Bank said after its Board of Executive Directors approved the first set of emergency support operations for developing countries around the world, using a dedicated, fast-track facility for Covid-19 response.

In South Asia, the World Bank also approved $200 million for Pakistan, $100 million for Afghanistan, $7.3 million for the Maldives and $128.6 million for Sri Lanka.

The World Bank said it was now working to grant up to $160 billion over the next 15 months to support measures to tackle the pandemic which will focus on the immediate health consequences and bolster economic recovery. The broader economic programme will aim to shorten the time to recovery, create conditions for growth, support small and medium enterprises, and help protect the poor and vulnerable.

"The World Bank Group is taking broad, fast action to reduce the spread of Covid-19 and we already have health response operations moving forward in over 65 countries," said World Bank Group President David Malpass.

"We are working to strengthen developing nations' ability to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and shorten the time to economic and social recovery. The poorest and most vulnerable countries will likely be hit the hardest, and our teams around the world remain focused on country-level and regional solutions to address the ongoing crisis," Malpass said.

Responding to widespread supply chain disruptions, the World Bank is helping countries access critically needed medical supplies by reaching out to suppliers on behalf of the governments. The World Bank is encouraging others to provide financial support to developing countries for the Covid-19 health response, said the media statement.

A total of 1,002,159 Covid-19 cases have been reported across 175 countries and territories including 51,485 deaths so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.