VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The World Bank on Thursday (Apr 2) said it had approved an initial US$1.9 billion in emergency funds for coronavirus response operations in 25 developing countries, with more than half the aid earmarked to help fight the fast-spreading disease in India. Action on projects in scores of emerging market countries is expected in the coming days and weeks, the World Bank said. In addition, the bank said it was working to redeploy resources in existing World Bank financed projects worth up to US$1.7 billion. The bank has said it is prepared to spend up to US$160 billion over the next 15 months to combat the pandemic. World Bank Group President David Malpass said the institutional lender was moving quickly to strengthen the ability of developing countries to respond to the virus, and shorten the time to economic and social recovery//Reuters