New Delhi: Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on Wednesday said it has approved a USD 750 million (around Rs 5,714 crore) loan to India to help the government strengthen its battle against the adverse impact of COVID-19 on poor and vulnerable households.
"Cofinanced with the Asian Development Bank, the budgetary support will go toward bolstering economic aid for businesses, including for the informal sector, expanding social safety nets for the needy, and strengthening the country's health care systems," the multilateral agency said in a statement.
India is extremely vulnerable to the pandemic given that around 270 million people continue to live below the national poverty line and around 81 million live in densely populated informal settlements with limited access to health services, according to the World Bank, it added.
Meanwhile, India registered the highest-ever spike of 2,003 COVID-19 fatalities pushing the death toll to11,903 on Wednesday, while the caseload rose to3,54,065 with10,974 new coronavirus infections, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
"The disruption in economic activities threatens to impact poor households disproportionately, especially women, many of whom are employed in the informal sector," said AIIB.
According to AIIB Vice President, Investment Operations, D J Pandian, "many of the world's low and middle-income countries are still in the early stages of the health crisis but are already feeling the impact of the pandemic. This poses an enormous risk for millions across India who have only recently emerged from poverty".
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