The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) Board of Directors has approved a loan of EUR91.34 million (approximately USD100 million equivalent) in support of an emergency project to help the Government of Georgia mitigate and address the health and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funded by AIIB’s COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility and jointly financed with the World Bank, the loan will finance Georgia’s health infrastructure and social protection measures for COVID-19 preparedness. To strengthen the government’s response to contain the pandemic, the loan will also support early detection and confirmation of cases, as well as disease surveillance and strengthening of health system preparedness.

Georgia’s poor and vulnerable households are particularly impacted by the pandemic. They face unemployment and risk falling into poverty due to the economic downturn resulting from restrictions imposed to control the outbreak. Complementary to the emergency response support, therefore, the project will also finance enabling health measures to contain the outbreak. Social assistance will be given to such households by providing temporary income support through cash transfers, and unemployment assistance to workers who lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

“The project’s emergency healthcare assistance and social protection measures are closely interlinked. They aim to support Georgia’s pandemic response and its efforts to protect the most vulnerable people affected by COVID-19,” said AIIB Vice President, Investment Operations, Konstantin Limitovskiy. “Adapting to members’ immediate healthcare, social and economic needs, AIIB will continue to work with the international community to provide effective financing options to support their response to the current challenges.”

AIIB’s COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility, created as part of the coordinated international response to counter the COVID-19 crisis, has an initial size of USD5-USD10 billion to support AIIB members’ urgent economic, financial and public health financing needs and quick recovery from the crisis. AIIB is currently reviewing projects from a number of members. Projects being proposed under the facility can be found here.

About AIIB

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia. Headquartered in Beijing, we began operations in January 2016 and have now grown to 102 approved members worldwide. By investing in sustainable infrastructure and other productive sectors in Asia and beyond, we will better connect people, services and markets that over time will impact the lives of billions and build a better future.