The resources seek to strengthen the health system, provide income and nutritional support to the poorest and most vulnerable households, as well as maintain liquidity and access to financing for companies.
“We work quickly so that Colombia can have the resources it needs in these difficult times for all, especially for the most vulnerable,” said Ulrich Zachau, director of the World Bank for Colombia and Venezuela.
“With this operation we hope to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the health sector, the economy and primarily on protecting the lives and well-being of Colombian families,” he said in a statement.
With the approval of this loan, the new total World Bank commitments with Colombia in the first six months of 2020 reached a total of US $ 1,250 million, in addition to US $ 250 million of contingent financing previously disbursed to face the covid-19 emergency.
For the second half of the year, significant additional financing commitments, related to housing support, as well as sustainable infrastructure are expected to drive the recovery of the economy.
In early May, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved, for a two-year term, a flexible loan to Colombia of $ 10.8 billion to help the country manage the high external risks and support its efforts to effectively face the pandemic.
Colombia, which to date reports 84,442 coronavirus cases and 2,811 deaths, is spending millions of dollars to attend the health emergency, support for vulnerable people and companies.
The Government estimates that the fourth economy in Latin America will contract 5.5% this year, from an initial goal that contemplated a growth of 3.7%, due to the semi-paralysis as a consequence of the mandatory preventive isolation that the country entered on March 25 to contain the covid-19.
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