Democratic Republic of Congo - Support Programme in Response to the COVID-19 Crisis (PABRC)

The Budget Support Program in Response to the Covid-19 Crisis for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (PABURC-RDC) aims to support the multisectoral and mitigation program for the impacts of Covid-19 (PMUAC), developed by the Government of the DRC, aimed at controlling the pandemic and mitigating its negative economic and social effects. According to the Ministry of Health, the DRC recorded its first case of Covid-19 on March 10, 2020 and the first death on March 21, 2020. As of August 28, 2020, the country recorded 9,994 confirmed cases, 9,035 recovered 255 deaths out of a total of 53,534 tests performed. Community contaminations are increasing rapidly, raising fears of accelerated spread that could overwhelm limited resources in the health sector. The health crisis linked to Covid19 and the evolution of the spread of the virus could pose a serious threat to the living conditions of the populations, given the context of the country's fragility. The programme consists of two components: (i) support health response and social protection and (ii) support business resilience and economic recovery. This is an ADF loan of 30.72 million units of account (UA), an ADF grant of UA 42.61 million and an TSF grant of UA 26.67 million, for a total of UA 100 million. It will be implemented over a period of 12 months from October 2020.