AIIB approves €45 mln loan to Georgia for Covid-19 crisis mitigation
The financing will enhance inclusive growth and competitiveness, invest in human capital and build resilience by improving connectivity and integration, diversifying sources of finance, and improving the quality of the education system and macro-fiscal management. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved a loan of €45 million to Georgia to mitigate the negative economic and social impacts of Covid-19 and sustain the momentum of pre-pandemic reforms that support economic growth and resilience, announces the AIIB.
Funded under AIIB’s COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility (CRF) and co-financed with the World Bank, the loan will fill the unanticipated financing gap that has arisen due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, which could jeopardize Georgia’s ongoing reforms under the Economic Management and Competitiveness Program (EMCP).
Before the pandemic, Georgia adopted reforms under the EMCP designed to sustain rapid growth and ensure inclusion, job creation and resilience through measures to strengthen economic management and enhance competitiveness. COVID-19 has caused government financing constraints, creating huge funding needs for the ongoing implementation of reforms under the EMCP", reads the press-release published by the AIIB.
The financing will enhance inclusive growth and competitiveness, invest in human capital and build resilience by improving connectivity and integration, diversifying sources of finance, and improving the quality of the education system and macro-fiscal management.
This loan is the second for Georgia under the CRF, following an earlier emergency assistance of EUR91.34 million approved in May 2020, under which Georgia’s health infrastructure and social protection measures for COVID-19 preparedness were financed.
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the lending arm of the World Bank Group, has approved €73.1 million under the 'Emergency COVID-19 Response Project' for Georgia. The project aims to help the government’s efforts to mitigate and address the health and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is providing an additional $3 million in assistance to the Georgian healthcare system in response to COVID-19.The US Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, said that the CDC has been supporting Georgia to prepare for and response to the pandemic since January.
Georgia will receive €150 million in macro-financial assistance from the European Council to help the country ‘cope with the economic fallout’ of the COVID-19 pandemic. Georgia is among the ten enlargement and neighbourhood partners of the European Union which will receive the assistance ‘in the form of loans on highly favourable terms’.
The World Bank will provide $80 million to Georgia under the Fast Track COVID-19 Facility to mitigate the health and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, announces the World Bank.
The government of Japan has given medical equipment worth $2.8 million in order to contribute to Georgia’s medium and long term socio-economic development, including enhancement of the medical system as well as help the country to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, announces the Embassy of Japan in Georgia.
The World Bank is ready to support Georgia in the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines as soon as an effective one becomes available, announces Georgian Finance Minister Ivane Matchavariani after a video conference with Vice President of the World Bank for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bierde.
The United States and Sweden are partnering with Georgian micro-financing organisation Crystal to support economic recovery from Covid-19 with a $15 million loan guarantee programme for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Georgia.
Georgia’s healthcare system spent over 200 million GEL (about $60.2 million) on its Covid-19 response in 2020, reports local media outlet Interpressnews (IPN).