Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved a $750-million loan to India to help strengthen its response to the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on millions of poor and vulnerable households.
“Many of the world’s low and middle-income countries are still in the early stages of the health crisis but are already feeling the impact of the pandemic.
“This poses an enormous risk for millions across India who have only recently emerged from poverty,” said AIIB Vice President, Investment Operations, D.J. Pandian, who is a former Chief Secretary of Gujarat and was nominated by the NDA government to the AIIB.
Co-financed by the Asian Development Bank, the budgetary support will go towards bolstering economic aid for businesses, including for the informal sector, expanding social safety nets for the needy, and strengthening the country’s healthcare systems, the AIIB said in a statement.
