The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the lending arm of the World Bank Group, has approved €73.1 million under the 'Emergency COVID-19 Response Project' for Georgia.
The Healthcare and Social Issues Committee of Georgia supported the bill on the loan agreement today. Following the loan agreement the maturity of the loan will be 26 years and the grace period will be 13 years.
The project will be developed by the Ministry of Health of Georgia and aims to help the government’s efforts to mitigate and address the health and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Accordingly €29 million will be spent on healthcare, on measures against the spread of the coronavirus, as well as the costs associated with treating infected individuals and, if necessary, equipment needed for healthcare infrastructure.
Meanwhile, €44 million will be allocated for social assistance.
Deputy Financial Minister Giorgi Kakauridze said that this amount of money is not enough to meet all the challenges caused by the coronavirus, but he announced that another loan agreement will be signed this week with the Asian Development Bank that will provide an additional €100 million.