The ADB said that around 65% of the package is in the form of direct social assistance & protection to the poor and vulnerable, including women.
New Delhi| Loan worth USD 1.5 billion has been approved by ADB to India to help fund its fight against coronavirus pandemic, the bank confirmed on Tuesday.
To support urgent priorities such as disease containment and prevention as well as social security for the poor and economically vulnerable sections are the main purpose of the loan.
The Asian Development Bank president Masatsugu Asakawa said that ADB is fully committed to assisting the Government of India in its response to this unprecedented challenge.
Headquartered in Manila, ADB said its COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support (CARES) Program will add directly to the advancement of access to health facilities and care, as well as social security for more than 800 million people, including families below the poverty line, farmers, health care workers, women, senior citizens, people with disabilities, low wage earners, and construction workers.
The CARES Program is funded through the COVID-19 pandemic response option (CPRO) under the Asian Development Bank’s Countercyclical Support Facility.
Also Read: World Bank Approves $1 Billion Emergency Funds For India To Fight Virus
The World Bank, earlier this month, had also approved an initial USD 1.9 billion in emergency funds for COVID-19 response operations in 25 developing countries, with more than half the fund assigned to help combat the fast-spreading disease in India.
The total cases in India surged to 29,435, including 6868 cured/discharged/migrated and 934 deaths as India steps in the final days of the 40-day lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19.
1,543 new cases of COVID-19 and 62 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours.
A total of 280 government laboratories in the country is conducting tests for the novel coronavirus, the Indian Council of Medical Research has said. ICMR also issued a list of 90 private labs which will conduct the testing.
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