WASHINGTON, July 30, 2020— The World Bank Board of Directors approved today $80 million from the International Development Association (IDA) to help Guinea protect lives and people’s livelihoods and prepare the economic recovery to the COVID-19 crisis.
The Crisis Response Development Policy Financing (DPF) supports the Government to strengthen institutional capacity of the health sector by adopting standard operational health procedures and facilitating access to COVID-19 related medical products. It promotes other measures to alleviate the liquidity constraints of vulnerable households and businesses through subsidies or deferrals of electricity and water utility bills and tax relief measures. It also includes measures to strengthen public financial management of resources devoted to the COVID-19 crisis and debt transparency. In addition, the DPF supports financial inclusion and debt transparency by facilitating access to mobile money accounts and finance for vulnerable populations and Micro, Small and Medium-Size Enterprises (MSMEs).
The operation is aligned with the Government of Guinea Response Plan to the COVID-19 crisis and National development plan (PNDES) and complements the recently approved Covid-19 Emergency Response Project, which seeks to prevent, detect and respond to the COVID-19 outbreak and strengthen national systems for public health emergency preparedness. Over the next 15 months, the World Bank in Guinea will deploy more than $100 million in financing to protect the poorest households and support economic resilience against this unprecedented crisis.
World Bank Group COVID-19 Response
The World Bank Group, one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries, is taking broad, fast action to help developing countries strengthen their pandemic response. We are supporting public health interventions, working to ensure the flow of critical supplies and equipment, and helping the private sector continue to operate and sustain jobs. We will be deploying up to $160 billion in financial support over 15 months to help more than 100 countries protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses, and bolster economic recovery. This includes $50 billion of new IDA resources through grants and highly concessional loans.
