The government has decided re-allocation of non-utilized funds and to seek fresh funds from multilateral agencies to deploy towards coronavirus (COVID-19) prevention across the country, said Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar.
The federal minister took to Twitter on Friday and stated, "Economic Affairs Division is finalising reallocations of non-utilised funds from some foreign projects & seeking fresh funds from multilateral agencies to deploy towards COVID-19 prevention across the country. We aim to make these funds available to relevant departments by next week." He further said that the Finance Division was also working in close coordination with the adviser on health for provision of local funds.
The provinces have also been asked to keep close coordination with their respective health departments for provision of resources. The World Bank has committed $12 billion (£9.4bn) in aid for developing countries grappling with the spread of the coronavirus.
The emergency package includes low-cost loans, grants and technical assistance.
The action comes as leaders around the world pledge to shield their countries from the economic impact of the outbreak. It follows warnings that slowdown from the outbreak could tip countries into recession.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced $50bn (£39bn) of support for countries hit by the coronavirus. The IMF said it was making money available to help poor and middle-income countries with weak health systems respond to the pandemic.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced to make available $200 million through its Supply Chain Finance Programme for companies manufacturing and distributing medicines and other items needed to combat COVID-19. Companies manufacturing and distributing products, including medicines and personal protective equipment, are increasingly strained as production and distribution ramp up to address COVID-19.
The support from the ADB, working in partnership with commercial banks, will provide such companies in Asia and the Pacific with additional working capital to meet expansion, and other requirements.
"The support will target companies in the supply chain that are critical to fighting the virus," said ADB's Head of Trade and Supply Chain Finance Steven Beck.
"We're looking to support companies that want to ramp up production and therefore need to engage suppliers." Given that a single pool of supply chain finance is typically used for a subsequent delivery over a period of 120-180 days, the $200 million facility could support more than $400 million of financing over the next 12 months. Fifty-fifty risk sharing from partner commercial banks could boost support under the facility to $800 million over the same period.
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