ADB to give USD 200 mn to companies manufacturing products to combat coronavirus

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday said it will provide USD 200 million (about Rs 1,480 crore) to companies manufacturing and distributing medicines, and other items needed to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The funds will be made available through ADB's Supply Chain Finance Program and provided to selected companies within weeks, the Manila-headquartered multilateral funding agency said in a release.

Companies manufacturing and distributing products, including medicines and personal protective equipment, are increasingly strained as production and distribution ramp up to address COVID-19, it said.

The support from 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," ADB Head of Trade and Supply Chain Finance Steven Beck said.

"We're looking to support companies that want to ramp up production and therefore need to engage suppliers," he said.

Given that a single pool of supply chain finance is typically used for a subsequent delivery over a period of 120180 days, the USD 200 million facility could support more than USD 400 million of financing over the next 12 months, the release said.

Fifty-fifty risk sharing from partner commercial banks could boost support under the facility to USD 800 million over the same period.

"ADB is closely monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on trade finance and is in regular contact with client banks to assess whether additional support is required," it said.

Earlier on February 7, ADB came up with a USD 2 million assistance for COVID-19 to enhance detection, prevention, and response in China and the Greater Mekong Subregion.

It was followed by another USD 2 million on February 26 to support response against the outbreak in all its developing members, and a CNY130 million (USD 18.6 million) private sector loan to Wuhan-based pharmaceutical distributor Jointown Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd to support continuous supply of essential medicines and personal protective equipment.