ADB pledges $2.2 bn support to battle Covid

New Delhi, April 10

India is negotiating a $2.2-billion emergency support package from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) after having secured a $1-billion commitment from the World Bank to beef up health services and assist companies and their employees who are in trouble.

The package discussed by ADB chief Masatsugu Asakawa and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is on similar lines as the World Bank loan: For the health sector and to help informal workers, MSMEs and the financial sector. “We are now preparing $2.2-billion in immediate assistance,” said Asakawa, a Japanese. Significantly, PM Narendra Modi today discussed with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe the global health and economic challenges emerging out of the pandemic. Asakawa appreciated New Delhi’s response that included a national health emergency programme, tax and other relief measures to businesses besides a Rs 1.70 lakh crore economic relief package to provide immediate income and consumption support to the poor, women and workers affected by the nationwide lockdown. The ADB is also engaged with the private sector to meet its financing needs during this period.

The ADB noted that the weakening global economic growth is causing disruptions in India’s trade and manufacturing supply chains. — TNS