The World Bank is making available US$150 million for disaster relief in the Dominican Republic. The funds are disbursed from a contingent credit line, better known as the Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat-DDO), effective since 2018.
Following a request from the Dominican government, the World Bank released the funds to support the country’s efforts to implement emergency measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 and manage the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
“In recent years, the Dominican Republic has been making progress in strengthening its capacity to respond to emergencies, including for public health-related events,” said Alessandro Legrottaglie, country manager for the World Bank. “This rapid financing demonstrates the World Bank’s commitment to support the Dominican Republic’s efforts to respond to the immediate health and social needs of the people in the face of an extraordinary challenge.”
On 19 March 2020, the Dominican Republic declared a state of emergency for 25 days. On 2 April 2020, the government extended this for another 15 days.
The US$150 million is part of an overall US$14 billion fast-track package to strengthen the Covid-19 response in developing countries and shorten the time to recovery.
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WorldBank
3 April 2020