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World Bank approves $250 million loan to support Indonesia's COVID-19's response
Indonesia will use the loan from the World Bank to strengthen its emergency response to COVID-19 and future outbreaks.
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The World Bank Group logo on the building of the global development lender in Washington, DC. (Reuters/Reuters)
The World Bank has agreed to provide a US$250 million loan to support Indonesia’s COVID-19 response, the organization’s board of executive directors announced recently.
According to a statement issued by the World Bank on Friday, the funds will go toward strengthening the country’s emergency response to the pandemic, including improving intensive care capacity, providing more personal protective equipment and improving the laboratory network and surveillance system.
The funds will also be used to prepare for future outbreaks of infectious diseases by improving the country's reporting and surveillance systems.
The primary beneficiaries of the program will be patients, especially those who are vulnerable and in high-risk populations, such as senior citizens and patients with chronic conditions, and healthcare providers.
Read also: Explainer: Indonesia to finance coronavirus battle mostly through debt
“We are proud to support the government of Indonesia’s COVID-19 response and its efforts to minimize the health, economic and social impacts of the pandemic, which is critical to its continued efforts to reduce poverty and protect the country’s human capital,” World Bank country director for Indonesia and Timor-Leste, Satu Kahkonen, said in the statement.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Indonesia would utilize the funds to strengthen the nation’s capacity for preventing, testing and treating such diseases. “The government […] is utilizing all possible means to mitigate the health, social, and economic impacts of COVID-19.”
The World Bank loan is one of several coordinated financing agreements Indonesia has made with several partners, including $250 million in co-financing from the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank and $250 million in parallel financing from the Islamic Development Bank.
