Amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the World Bank on Friday, May 15, approved $1 billion 'Accelerating India's Covid-19 Social Protection Response Program' to support the nation's efforts for providing social assistance to the poor and vulnerable households, severely impacted by the deadly virus.

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The World Bank's billion-dollar support for social protection will help India leverage it's PM Garib Kalyan Yojana.

This takes the total commitment from the World Bank towards emergency COVID-19 response and health systems in India to $2 billion. World Bank stated that the billion-dollar social protection package was in addition to the previous package of $1 billion allocated to India last month.

"The World Bank's billion-dollar support for social protection will help India leverage it's PM Garib Kalyan Yojana," said World Bank Country Director (India) Junaid Kamal Ahmad.

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The response to the COVID-19 pandemic around the world has required governments around the world to introduce social distancing and lockdowns in unprecedented ways, said Junaid Ahmad, World Bank Country Director in India in a webinar interaction with the reporters.

Covid-19 impacted economies and jobs

These measures, intended to contain the spread of the virus have, however, impacted economies and jobs – especially in the informal sector. India with the world's largest lockdown has not been an exception to this trend, he said.

Of the $1 billion commitment, $550 million will be financed by a credit from the International Development Association (IDA) – the World Bank's concessionary lending arm and USD 200 million will be a loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), with a final maturity of 18.5 years including a grace period of five years.

The remaining $250 million will be made available after June 30, 2020.