The World Bank has stepped in to intervene in the coronavirus Covid-19 outbreak with an immediately available commitment of $12 billion to help developing countries fight the disease as it spreads around the world.
The assistance is a mix of old and new commitments across all the World Bank’s member organizations.
Some $2.7 billion is new financing from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). There is also a new slug of $4 billion from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), to complement existing trade facilities of $2 billion.
A further $1.3 billion comes from the International Development Association (IDA), while the final $2 billion represents a reprioritization of the World Bank’s existing portfolio.
The aid puts into perspective the $195.8 million that would be potentially available to the poorest countries from the World Bank’s 2017 pandemic bond issue, which is subject to a complex series of triggers before it can pay out.
Given the potential impacts of Covid-19 on global growth, we reaffirm our commitment to use all appropriate policy tools to achieve strong, sustainable growth and safeguard against downside risks - G7
The large scale of the assistance is an indication of the challenge that the multilateral anticipates will be faced by developing countries as the coronavirus outbreak spreads and those countries ramp up their ability to reliably test for and report cases of the disease.
