India to borrow $1 bn from NDB for Covid relief

The target

• Mitigating the adverse economic impact of Covid-19 pandemic

• Creating durable rural assets and jobs for rural poor

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 16

The Centre today signed a $1 billion (Rs 7,500 crore) agreement with New Development Bank (NDB) to fund its rural employment and infrastructure schemes.

These schemes will help mitigate the adverse economic impact of Covid-19 pandemic and enable economic recovery in rural areas, a press note said.

India has already borrowed $1 billion from the NDB which was jointly set up by BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The loan agreement was signed by Baldeo Purushartha from the Union Ministry of Finance and Xian Zhu of the NDB.

The latest tranche will fund the creation of durable rural infrastructure and generation of employment for rural poor, especially migrant workers. Natural resource management works will facilitate economic activity and employment generation will stimulate rural demand to combat the pandemic-triggered decline in economic activity.

A month after the Covid outbreak, BRICS had resolved to provide its members $15 billion in emergency aid from the NDB. Having borrowed $2 billion so far, India could get another $1 billion from the bank.