The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 250 million concessional loan to help the Nepal government fund its response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which includes measures to strengthen the country’s public health systems and mitigate the adverse economic and social impacts of the pandemic, particularly on the poor.

The Manila-based lender in a press statement said that the Covid-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support (CARES) Program is funded through the COVID-19 pandemic response option (CPRO) under ADB’s Countercyclical Support Facility. CPRO was established as part of ADB’s USD 20 billion expanded assistance for developing member countries’ COVID-19 response, which was announced on 13 April.

“The CARES Program will support the Nepal government in scaling up its testing capacity to at least 3,000 tests per day and establishing quarantine facilities for at least 200,000 people with separate wards for women and men in all seven provinces. Incentives will be provided for medical and other frontline personnel responding to COVID-19,” reads the statement.

ADB’s financing will also support the government in extending its social protection program to include distribution of food assistance to the poorest and vulnerable households, provision of employment support to the unemployed poor, especially women, and returning migrant workers. Subsidized lending will be extended to affected micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, of which at least 30 percent are women-led, with at least half of them from disadvantaged groups.

“ADB is strongly committed to supporting Nepal at this crucial time. This concessional loan will enable the government to continue its containment measures, extend its social protection program for the poor and vulnerable, and set the stage for an early economic recovery,” the statement quoted ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa as saying.

ADB informed that it has already provided Nepal a USD 300,000 grant to procure medical supplies, in collaboration with UNICEF. “ADB is working closely with the government and development partners to provide policy advice and develop measures to deal with the social and economic impacts of the pandemic,” reads the statement.