The Government of Romania has accessed the pre-approved financial assistance line of 400 million euro granted by the World Bank to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and to implement measures to this end, the institution announced on Friday.

This funding supports a series of interventions aimed at strengthening intervention and medical services, minimizing losses for the public and private sectors, as well as protecting the lives of citizens and the quality of life in general.

“The World Bank is ready to support Romania in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on people, by providing rapid financial assistance, as well as by long-term involvement. Depending on the evolution of the situation, we will we continue to support Romania in order to overcome this crisis,” said Tatiana Proskuryakova, the World Bank Country Director for Romania and Hungary.

Romania benefited from this pre-approved financial assistance (Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option – CAT-DDO), which the Government of Romania negotiated with the World Bank in June 2018. The objective of this program is to strengthen the institutional and legal framework of Romania, so as to be able to effectively manage the physical, social and fiscal impact in emergency medical situations, in the event of a natural disaster or climate change, according to Agerpres.

In addition to the support given to the Government for the development of critically important public policies aimed at strengthening resilience, this facility gives the Government the opportunity to access funding within 48 hours, in order to respond in a timely manner to a natural disaster or to an emergency of a medical nature.

At the same time, the World Bank Office in Romania is now working to restructure the existing portfolio, especially in the field of health, in order to leverage some of the existing funds to finance the purchase of necessary equipment in the context of the current crisis, as well as in the areas affected by the crisis beyond the health sector. This type of assistance also involves the provision of technical assistance to reduce the economic impact that a possible crisis will have.