Dr. Bandar Hajjar, President of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), has continued his virtual meetings with IsDB Governors for the fourth week. He discussed the immediate needs of the Member Countries (MCs) and the response to COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to other issues related to IsDB interventions in MCs.

Dr. Bandar Hajjar said, “we assure you that the dedicated IsDB Group team is working tirelessly to provide fast-tracked assistance to the MCs under the ‘Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan’ (SPRP) launched by the Bank through the Country Platform.”

He further explained that the overall SPRP package approved by the Board of Executive Directors (BED) valued at US$ 2.3 billion consisting of a combination of soft loans, ordinary (market) resources, private sector finance, trade finance and credit and investment insurance.

Dr. Bandar Hajjar also said that “as the COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented challenge that has adversely affected IsDB MC’s economies and the livelihoods of their populations, the SPRP is designed to help MCs to recover from this crisis”.

He explained that the program adopts a holistic view guided by 'The 3Rs' (Respond, Restore, and Restart) approach that correspondingly covers the short, medium-and-long-term, and aims to accommodate priorities beyond the immediate emergency response to the health sector, thus ultimately putting MCs back on the economic recovery track.

The Governors appreciated IsDB Group’s responsiveness and close coordination with technical teams and their peers in MCs. They also praised the mechanism employed by IsDB to expedite delivery of the financial assistance.

Meetings during this fourth week were conducted with the following Governors:

·         H.E. AHM Mustaf Kamal, Minister of Finance, Bangladesh, to discuss the emergency assistance package of US$ 235.5 million.

·         H.E. Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Finance, Indonesia, to discuss the emergency assistance package to be provided by IsDB Group.

·         H.E. Abderrahmane Raouya, Minister of Finance, Algeria, to discuss IsDB Group’s support in combating COVID-19 and promoting Islamic finance in the country.

·         H.E. Mr. Davlatali Said, the First Deputy Prime Minister, Tajikistan, to discuss the emergency assistance package of US$ 9.13 million.

·         H.E. Saed Ali Mousavi, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Iran, to discuss the efforts to combat COVID-19, in addition to support of educational projects.

·         H.E. Ilyas Mousa Dawaleh Minister of Economy and Finance, Djibouti, to discuss the emergency assistance package of US$ 5 million.

·         H.E. Dr. Hala Helmy, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Egypt & H.E. Rania el Mashaat, Minister of International Cooperation, Egypt, to discuss the emergency assistance package of US$ 126 million provided to help Egypt combat the COVID-19 outbreak.