ADB helps Philippines address COVID-19 crisis

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Philippines have signed a 500 million USD loan to help the country's efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that has taken a heavy toll on the poor.

Wednesday, June 17, 2020 19:40

ADB helps Philippines address COVID-19 crisis ảnh 1

People in the Philippines wear masks to prevent spread of COVID-19 (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Philippines havesigned a 500 million USD loan to help the country's efforts to mitigate theimpact of the COVID-19 pandemic that has taken a heavy toll on the poor.

The Philippines' Department of Finance (DOF) said in a statement that thecountry has accessed the fresh financing package worth million 500 million USD fromthe ADB to help support the Philippines’ immediate budgetary requirements toaddress the coronavirus crisis with the signing of a loan agreement for theExpanded Social Assistance Project (ESAP).

Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said that the budget-support loanwill not only help bridge Philippines' funding gap for its COVID-19 responsebut will also strengthen its social protection programme as it restarts economyand help people get back on their feet amid the pandemic.

According to the DOF, the ESAP, which builds on a decade of ADB's support forsocial protection programs in the Philippines, aims to assist the government inthe continued implementation of its conditional cash transfer initiative dubbedthe Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Programme (4Ps).

The 500 million USD loan aims to continue funding education and health grantsto eligible 4Ps household-beneficiaries for a period of four years starting2020.

The ESAP loan, which covers a maturity period of 29 years inclusive of aneight-year grace period, brings to 2.6 billion USD the total financing packageextended by the ADB so far to the Philippines for its programmes to address theCOVID-19 crisis./.

VNA

#COVID-19 #Asian Development Bank (ADB) #the Philippines #loans #mitigate impacts #Expanded Social Assistance Project (ESAP) #Vietnamplus #Vietnam News Agency Philippines

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