The Government of Georgia and the World Bank signed today the Financing Agreement in the amount of $80 million to Georgia under the Fast Track COVID-19 Facility, aimed at supporting Georgia's efforts to mitigate and address the health and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The agreement was signed online by Ivane Matchavariani, Minister of Finance of Georgia and Sebastian Molineus, World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus. The project was approved by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors on April 30, 2020.

The World Bank will provide a $80 million financial support package to Georgia to help the Government’s efforts to mitigate and address the health and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The support is provided under the World Bank’s Fast Track Covid19 Facility (FTCF). The World Bank is also collaborating with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to provide an additional $100 million under a joint co-finance arrangement.

The objective is to finance measures that help prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and provide immediate social protection support to the most vulnerable. It is expected to benefit the population at large, and in particular, the infected people and at-risk populations such as the elderly and people with chronic conditions, as well as medical and emergency personnel. Health-related emergency COVID-19 response measures include case detection and confirmation, increased testing, as well as health system strengthening for case management.

In addition, the project will provide income support to the poor and vulnerable households by scaling-up of the Targeted Social Assistance program and providing temporary cash transfers to workers who lost jobs due to the pandemic.