ADB, AIIB step up financial support to address COVID-19 outbreak

MANILA, Philippines — Two multilateral lenders based in Asia have stepped up financial support to their member-countries in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in and out of China.
The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it green-lighted another $2 million in funds—doubling the initial $2 million it approved early this month—to not only contain COVID-19 but also improve Asia-Pacific countries’ resilience against communicable diseases moving forward.

“The funds will be available for all ADB developing member-countries in updating and implementing their pandemic response plans, including buying emergency supplies and equipment; assessing health system and economic impacts to improve future resilience; and coordinating better regionally to prevent, detect, and respond to animal and human disease outbreaks. The work will be conducted in close collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO),” the ADB said in a statement late Wednesday.

The initial $2-million fund covered only six countries—China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

“The severity of the COVID-19 outbreak is escalating, and past disease outbreaks have had large impacts on social and economic development. The ADB’s funding will help countries catalyze efforts to mitigate further damage to the health of families and economies and position them to better respond to the current and future outbreaks,” said Bambang Susantono, vice president for knowledge management and sustainable development.

“Past epidemics have shown that impacts can rapidly extend to all areas of a country’s economy, triggering fiscal shocks with long-term negative consequences that threaten the stability and economic growth. Countries and businesses that rely on tourism are particularly vulnerable. Trade and supply chains also suffer,” the ADB noted.

Last Tuesday, the ADB also extended an $18.6-million private-sector loan to Chinese firm Jointown Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd.

“The local currency loan will support Jointown’s efforts to ensure a continued supply of essential medicines and personal protective equipment such as protective clothing, gloves, goggles, face masks, and respirators. The financing will also support Jointown’s cooperation with the Red Cross in its efforts to respond to the spread of the coronavirus. Jointown is the largest private pharmaceutical distributor in China and is headquartered in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak,” the ADB said.

Last Monday, ADB president Masatsugu Asakawa met with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, who also serves as lender’s governor for the Philippines.

Dominguez said he and Asakawa talked about the hosting of this year’s ADB annual meeting scheduled in May in South Korea, which was grappling from the COVID-19 outbreak as the country currently hosted the second-largest number of cases after China.

“We touched on the subject but concluded that the ADB will continue to monitor developments before making any announcements,” Dominguez said.

Separately, the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) said it donated $1 million—including money shelled out by its staff, which the lender matched—to the Chinese government for initiatives aimed at controlling COVID-19’s spread.

“The contribution was used to purchase medical equipment to help frontline health care professionals battling the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan and Beijing. The AIIB has been sourcing medical supplies from around the world, including 51,000 medical masks, 46,000 protective clothing, 17,000 surgery aprons, 21,000 boxes of surgical gloves and other medical and epidemic prevention supplies with a total weight of 40 tons. The first batch of materials is delivered to Wuhan and Beijing on Feb. 24, with other batches to follow,” the AIIB said in a statement last Monday.

“AIIB’s management and staff stand by the Chinese people. We are ready to offer our help to the best of our ability. We want to do our part as residents of China to help stop the epidemic’s spread,” AIIB president and chair Jin Liqun said.

The AIIB earlier said it was looking into extending public health infrastructure loans to China amid the outbreak.

Edited by MUF