Georgia: Economic Management and Competitiveness Program: COVID-19 Crisis Mitigation

approved

The operation is proposed under the COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility (the Facility) of AIIB and co-financed with the World Bank (WB) under a supplemental financing for the Economic Management and Competitiveness Development Program (EMCP) to help the Government of Georgia (GoG) cover an unanticipated financing gap that has arisen due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and to sustain the momentum on the EMCP-supported reform program. On March 26, 2020, the WB approved an initial IBRD loan of EUR45 million in support of the EMCP under its Policy on Development Policy Financing (DPF Policy). The loan was disbursed in May 2020, and the EMCP has remained on track. However, the abrupt outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has created a large and unanticipated financing gap while significantly constraining the GoG's financing sources. In order to enable it to sustain the momentum of its EMCP, the GoG has therefore requested supplemental financing from the WB, as well as financing from AIIB. The WB Board approved a COVID-19 Supplemental IBRD loan of EUR45 million for the EMCP on June 30, 2020. AIIB will co-finance the WB's supplemental loan, thereby providing critically needed support to help the GoG to cover this financing gap. The financing of EUR45 million by AIIB under this operation is part of a broader AIIB - WB co-financed emergency package, which also includes the COVID-19 Emergency Response Project for which AIIB is providing USD100 million equivalent.