BRICS Assist India with USD 1 Billion Loan to Fight Against COVID-19

The New Development Bank of the BCRIS countries has given a USD 1 billion emergency assistance loan to India to prevent the spread of COVID 19. The loan will help the social and economic loss caused by the novel Coronavirus.

The New Development Bank is situated in Shanghai, which was established by the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries in 2014. It is headed by Indian veteran banker KV Kamath.

The major purpose of the bank is to gather resources for infrastructure and maintain development projects in BRICS countries and other developing nations, complementing the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development.

An emergency loan to India was approved by the NDB Board of Directors on April 30. It focuses to support the Indian government to fight against the novel coronavirus and to balance the economic loss.

On May 12, Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of the bank Xian Zhu shared that, the NDB is fully committed to supporting its member countries in the time of calamity. Emergency Assistance Program Loan to India was approved in quick response to the urgent request and immediate financing needs of the Government of India to fight against COVID-19.

Funding critical healthcare expenditure will enhance healthcare capacity in India and strengthen national health systems. The loan will help in providing immediate economic assistance to the vulnerable and affected groups, thus facilitating economic and social recovery.

In the statement to Response to COVID 19, the NDB Board of Governors welcomed the establishment of an Emergency Assistance Facility to meet the emergency needs of the member countries of the bank.

Apart from this, on 12 May 2020 Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced a massive new financial package of Rs. 20 lakh crore under Atma NirbharcBharatAbhiyan

On 13 May, the death toll of COVID 19 has risen to 2415 and the number of cases has climbed to 74,281 in India. As per the Union Health Ministry- globally, the number of cases linked with the disease has crossed 4.2 million and the death toll has reached up to 2.91 lakh.