Shanghai based New Development Bank (NDB) of BRICS countries disbursed USD 1 billion loan to India as an assistance to fight against the social, human and economic losses by the deadly pandemic. NDB was established by the BRICS(Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) nations in 2014 in Shanghai and is now headed by K V Kamath.
The bank was established with the motive of providing resources to the Infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS countries and other developing nations across the world. It is providing support to other financial institutions and is aiming for global growth and development.
On April 30, Board of Directors of NDB approved ‘Emergency Assistance Program Loan’ to India for supporting the Indian Government in controlling the spread of Corona virus and to reduce the economic and social losses caused by the pandemic. Xian Zhu, Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of NDB said in a statement that ‘NDB is fully committed to support the needs of its members at any time of calamity and the Emergency Assistance Program Loan provided to India was approved as an immediate response to the request by Government of India in fighting against COVID-19.
‘Emergency Assistance Program Loan’ finance Healthcare sector Emergency Response for Strengthening social safety Net for expenditures already incurred since January 1, 2020 and it also incur public expenditures for onward transmission containment and social safety associated with the pandemic up to March 2021. The loan is aiming to respond to the threat posed by COVID-19, funding the healthcare expenditures in India and for strengthening the healthcare system across the various states of India. It can immediately assist in facilitating the social and economic recovery of the affected groups in the society.
An Emergency Assistance Facility was established by the NDB to meet the emergency needs of the member countries. The emergency loans by the bank could be used to finance and support the government measures in fighting against the COVID-19 and also in economic recovery.
Lockdown across India caused a loss of $234.4 billion to the nation by the month of May and Government of India announced the relief package of $265 billion. The death toll due to the epidemic crossed 2400 and number of cases are also increasing especially in states like Gujarat and Maharashtra. The loan assistance by NDB will be beneficial to the struggling economy of the nation.
