By Adedapo Adesanya
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) has extended four loans totalling $115 million to support COVID-19 response efforts in four countries – Bangladesh, Benin, Dominica and Guyana.
The loans form part of the OPEC Fund’s $1 billion commitment to collective and coordinated COVID-19-related assistance for developing countries.
Bangladesh will get $70 million budget support loan which will help provide social safety net programs for the poor and vulnerable, day labourers and informal workers, as well as healthcare staff.
The loan will also contribute to economic packages to protect Bangladesh’s export industry. Measures include zero-cost credit to support factory worker salaries and low-interest loans to factories and small- and medium-sized enterprises.
The fund also added that 600,000 tons of rice and wheat will be distributed to low-income households.
The Republic of Benin will receive $15 million to strengthen the country’s disease surveillance and treatment systems and help purchase rapid diagnostic tests, laboratory equipment, consumables and drugs for hospitals and COVID-19 treatment centres.
According to the fund, 17 decentralized laboratories across the country will be equipped to implement mass screening programs.
A $10 million loan will go to Dominica which will support COVID-19 containment and treatment measures and the expansion of nationwide quarantine services. This will necessitate the purchase of medical supplies and equipment, and salaries for medical personnel.
Guyana will get $20 million in loan to help bolster a national social safety net program providing, among other things: food and educational supplies to 20,000 low-income families; social assistance (including utility bill support and unemployment benefits) to around 55,000 households; and subsidized loans and loan guarantees to around 300 micro- and small-sized enterprises in sectors affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
The OPEC Fund is the development finance institution established by the Member States of OPEC in 1976 as a channel of aid to developing countries. The Fund works in cooperation with developing country partners and the international donor community to stimulate economic growth and alleviate poverty in all disadvantaged regions of the world. It does this by providing financing to build essential infrastructure, strengthen social services and promote productivity, competitiveness, and trade.
The OPEC Fund’s work is people-centred, focusing on projects that meet basic needs – such as food, energy, infrastructure, employment (particularly relating to MSMEs), clean water and sanitation, healthcare, and education. It aims to encourage self-reliance and inspire hope for the future.
Meanwhile, the price of OPEC basket of 13 crudes stood at $45.19 a barrel on Monday, August 24 compared with $44.92 the previous Friday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations released on Tuesday.
The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).
