Over USD 157 billion deployed in final 15 months to battle Covid pandemic: World Bank
In its largest-ever disaster response, the World Bank has deployed over USD 157 billion to battle the impression of the COVID-19 pandemic on well being, financial and social fronts during the last 15 months.This represents a rise of greater than 60 per cent over the 15-month interval previous to the pandemic, the financial institution mentioned on Monday.
“Since the start of the pandemic, the World Bank Group has committed or mobilised a record USD 157 billion in new financing, an unprecedented level of support for an unprecedented crisis,” World Bank Group President David Malpass mentioned.
“We will continue to provide critical assistance to developing countries through this ongoing pandemic to help achieve a more broad-based economic recovery,” he mentioned.
The Bank Group has confirmed to be a fast, progressive, and efficient platform to help creating international locations as they reply to the pandemic and strengthen resilience for future shocks, Malpass mentioned.
“But we must still do more,” he mentioned, including that he stays deeply involved in regards to the restricted availability of vaccines, that are crucial to saving lives and livelihoods, for creating international locations.
According to a press launch, help to international locations from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) totalled USD 45.6 billion, together with drawing down IBRD’s USD 10 billion disaster buffer along with the board-approved sustainable annual lending limits.
Grants and 0 or low-interest loans to the world’s poorest international locations from the International Development Association (IDA) amounted to USD 53.3 billion. To meet elevated financing wants, the World Bank absolutely used all of the remaining IDA18 assets in fiscal 2020 and frontloaded about half of all of the three-year envelope of IDA19 assets in FY21, it mentioned.
In February 2021, IDA donor and borrower nation representatives agreed to advance IDA20 by 12 months to allow continued surge financing within the coming years, it added.
Over the identical 15 months, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank Group’s personal sector growth arm, reached a document excessive of USD 42.7 billion within the financing, together with short-term finance (USD 10.4 billion) and mobilisation (USD 14.9 billion), 37 per cent of which was in low-income and fragile and conflict-affected states, the discharge mentioned.
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), whose mandate is to drive impactful international direct funding to the creating international locations, issued USD 7.6 billion in new ensures over the identical 15-month interval for the reason that onset of the pandemic, of which 19 per cent supported initiatives in IDA international locations and fragile settings, it mentioned.