ADB approves 500 mln USD loan for Indonesia’s disaster recovery

Scene taken after a August 9 quake hit the Lombok island, Indonesia. (Illustrative photo: AP/EFE/Reuters/Getty)

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on November 20 that it has approved a 500-million-USD emergency assistance loan to support Indonesia's recovery and rehabilitation of Lombok and Central Sulawesi after recent disasters.

The Manila-based bank said the loan will provide immediate funding for the recovery and rehabilitation action plans of the Indonesian government, targeting urgent needs such as temporary shelters, social protection and services, as well as economic recovery through cash assistance, credit schemes and skills improvement programmes.

"ADB's emergency assistance loan provides timely and flexible financing to help mitigate the devastating impacts of the recent disasters," said Sona Shrestha, ADB's Director for Public Management, Financial Sector, and Trade Division for Southeast Asia.

The Emergency Assistance for Recovery and Rehabilitation from Recent Disasters is part of ADB's response to two recent disasters that hit Indonesia. They included a 7-magnitude earthquake that struck Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara province, in August, and a 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Central Sulawesi province in September.

These disasters claimed the lives of more than 2,600 people, injured some 18,000 people and displaced more than half a million.

VNA

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