The government of India and the New Development Bank (NDB) have signed a loan agreement for lending USD 1,000 million for supporting India’s economic recovery from COVID-19.
This will be done by supporting expenditures on rural infrastructure related to natural resource management (NRM) and rural employment generation under the government of India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
The countrywide restriction on movement of people, coupled with additional stringent restrictions imposed by state governments and intermittent localised lockdowns to contain the spread of COVID-19, affected domestic supply and demand, resulting in slowed down economic activity.
This resulted in a loss of employment and income of workers especially those employed in the informal sector, including rural areas.
The programme will support the government in mitigating the adverse economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic and enable economic recovery in rural areas through natural resource management works which will facilitate economic activity and employment generation to stimulate rural demand, to combat the decline in economic activity due to outbreak of COVID-19.
The programme proposes creation of durable rural infrastructure assets relating to NRM and generation of employment opportunities for rural poor, especially migrant workers who have returned from urban areas and have lost their livelihoods due to the pandemic.
NDB’s timely assistance will help the government in combatting the economic disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic and creating employment opportunities in rural areas to stimulate demand.