How does ADB help Georgia overcome the crisis caused by Covid-19?

By Natalia Kochiashvili

Friday, June 12

The COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Assistance Program (CARES) will provide budget assistance to the government and fund its complex anti-crisis plan.

$3.1 trillion is the total amount announced by ADB’s developing members to combat the COVID-19 pandemic as of June 1

How the Asian Development Bank is helping Georgia to overcome the crisis caused by Georgia's Covid-19 is the headline of a news published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on its website.

According to the information, the Asian Development Bank has approved a $ 100 million loan to finance the Georgian government's complex anti-crisis plan. This amount will help the country to overcome the crisis caused by Covid-19.

The Asian Development Bank has approved a $ 100 million loan to finance the Georgian government's complex anti-crisis plan, which will help the country overcome the crisis caused by Covid-19. Support from the ADB will help strengthen Georgia's healthcare system and support the government's social protection mechanisms. ADB funding will help the Georgian government support small and medium-sized businesses affected by the pandemic .

The $ 100 million loan is intended to help the Georgian government stop the spread of the new coronavirus pandemic, and mitigate the negative impact on business. The ADB loan will also help maintain the livelihoods of the most vulnerable in society by funding a number of ongoing government anti-social protection and anti-poverty mechanisms.

“The Covid-19 Active Response and Expenditure Assistance Program (CARES) will provide budget assistance to the government and fund its complex anti-crisis plan,” the ADB said in a statement.

Shane Rosenthal, Director of the Permanent Representation of the Asian Development Bank in Georgia says that Georgia, as an international trade hub and tourist destination, has been vulnerable to the pandemic of Covid-19 in the first place.

According to Rosenthal, the timely and effective steps taken by the government to stop the spread of the infection have paid off. He reported that the crisis has severely damaged Georgia's economy and left 400,000 people, or a quarter of those employed across the country, at risk of losing their jobs.

He underlines that ADB has been a reliable partner of Georgia for 10 than ten years and ‘we will be by his side during the restoration of economic activity’.

Rogerio de Almeida Vieira de Sa, head of the $ 100 million loan project approved for Georgia says that project will be implemented through a complex anti-crisis plan by the government.

“First of all, the government provides free diagnosis and treatment of the disease through loans,” he emphasised.

According to him it will be possible to supply doctors with protective equipment working on the front line of the pandemic.

The loan will indirectly help thousands of small businesses involved in tourism by funding the government’s current tax deferral plan.