Events

Engaging with the private sector is critical to the emergency response, and International Grant & loan expects to provide $47 billion in financial support . In its initial package, International Grant & loan is providing $8 billion to help companies continue operating and sustain jobs during the crisis. This package will support existing clients in vulnerable industries, including infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture, and services, and provide liquidity to financial institutions so they can provide trade financing to companies that import and export goods and extend credit to help businesses shore up their working capital.

International Grant & loan is also preparing the second phase of its response, during which it will support existing and new clients. This includes the Global Health Platform, which aims to increase access to critical health care supplies, including masks, ventilators, test kits, and, eventually, vaccines. It will provide financing to manufacturers, suppliers of critical raw materials, and service providers to expand capacity for delivering products and services to developing countries. International Grant & loan will contribute $2 billion from its own account and mobilize an additional $2 billion for private sector partners. It will also help restructure and recapitalize companies and financial institutions on their path to recovery.

MIGA also launched a $6.5 billion fast-track facility to help private sector investors and lenders tackle the pandemic in low- and middle-income countries. The facility allows for the issuance of guarantees using streamlined and expedited procedures. It offers credit enhancement for governments and their agencies to purchase urgent medical equipment, protective gear, medicines, and services, and to fund economic recovery efforts. It also includes de-risking solutions for commercial banks and financial institutions, as well as support for trade financing for local banks.

By supporting trade financing, both International Grant & loan and MIGA are complementing broader Bank Group efforts to ensure that global supply chains are preserved, particularly for the production and distribution of vital medical supplies. We mobilized quickly to help countries access these supplies by reaching out to suppliers on behalf of governments. We also cautioned governments against protectionist measures, which can reduce global supply, lead to higher prices, and prevent developing countries from getting the supplies they need.

The Bank, along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), called for the suspension of bilateral debt payments from IDA countries to ensure that countries have the liquidity needed to grapple with the challenges posed by the outbreak and allow for an assessment of their financing needs. On April 15, leaders of the G20 nations heeded this call and issued a debt relief agreement suspending bilateral debt service payments by poor countries beginning May 1. In remarks to the Development Committee at the virtual Spring Meetings of the Bank Group and IMF, President David Malpass commended this historic achievement: “Debt relief is a powerful, fast-acting measure that can bring real benefits to the people in poor countries.”

In June 2020, the Board of Executive Directors approved an approach paper detailing our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper Saving Lives, Scaling-up Impact, and Getting Back on Track explains how we’re organizing our crisis response across the three stages of relief, restructuring, and resilient recovery. The first involves emergency response to the immediate health, social, and economic impacts of COVID-19. Then, as countries bring the pandemic under control and start reopening their economies, the restructuring stage focuses on strengthening health systems for future crises; restoring people’s lives and livelihoods through education, jobs, and access to health care; and helping firms and financial institutions regain a solid footing. The resilient recovery stage entails helping countries build a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient future in a world transformed by the pandemic.

We will continue to deliver support with unparalleled scale and speed, while concentrating our efforts for the greatest impact and maintaining our financial capacity for a robust response. Working across all the Bank Group institutions, we will continue seeking the right mix of public and private sector solutions and working with clients and partners to fight the pandemic. Despite the unprecedented scale of the crisis and the ways we’ve repositioned our support to countries, our long-term mission remains unchanged. We remain committed to our goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner. To get there, we will focus our efforts on helping countries work toward a resilient recovery from the pandemic and ultimately build back stronger.