NEW DELHI, April 28 - The Asian Development Bank on Tuesday said it has approved USD 1.5 billion (about Rs 11,400 crore) loan to India to help fund its fight against coronavirus pandemic.
The loan has been sanctioned with a view to support immediate priorities such as disease containment and prevention, as well as social protection for the poor and economically vulnerable sections.
It is fully committed to supporting the Indian government in its response to this unprecedented challenge, said ADB president Masatsugu Asakawa.
�The quick-disbursing fund is part of a larger package of support that ADB will provide in close coordination with the government and other development partners.
�We are determined to support India�s COVID-19 response programmes and ensure that they provide effective support to the people of India, especially the poor and vulnerable,� Asakawa said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry said the loan agreement has been signed. The signatories to the loan agreement were Sameer Kumar Khare, additional secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs and Kenichi Yokoyama, country director, ADB, in India.
The CARES Programme is provided as the first support to meet the immediate requirements of the government.
The Manila-headquartered multilateral agency said its COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support (CARES) Programmes will contribute directly to the improvement of access to health facilities and care, as well as social protection 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. � PTI
