The International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) said that out of the US$ 8 billion in IFC COVID-19 fast-track financing approved by the IFC Board in March 2020, US$ 4 billion has been committed to date.
Out of this, close to half is expected to benefit people in the poorest countries and fragile states, with the remainder helping to support the fight against COVID-19 across other developing countries and emerging markets.
“Supporting the private sector will be crucial to helping developing countries achieve an inclusive, sustainable and resilient recovery and stem the current rise in extreme poverty,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass. “Our goal with IFC’s fast-track COVID-19 facility is to provide needed liquidity for corporate and financial institution clients, which will provide working capital, support jobs and facilitate trade.”
IFC’s Board in March approved $8 billion in financing to help companies affected by the outbreak.IFC, the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets, has since fully deployed the $2 billion allocated under the trade-finance envelope of the fast-track facility. This support is helping client financial institutions keep liquidity flowing to businesses that depend on trade, especially micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), a major source of employment.
“IFC’s fast-track COVID-19 facility was designed to provide immediate liquidity to our financial institutions and real sector clients to preserve jobs and prevent short-term damage,” said Stephanie von Friedeburg, Interim Managing Director, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of IFC. “By supporting private sector clients and interventions, we are hoping in the longer term to help reignite economic growth, paving the way for a better, more resilient and sustainable future once COVID-19 recedes.”
IFC has committed an additional $2 billion under the facility, benefiting every region in which IFC operates. Another $623 million has been mobilized for these clients from private sector partners.
Additionally, the IDA Private Sector Window (PSW), a tool developed by the World Bank Group to catalyze private-sector investment in the world’s poorest countries, has provided $281 million in guarantees supporting trade-finance and working-capital loans to small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in eligible countries since March.
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