The Government of Romania activated 400 million Euro of pre-arranged financial support from the World Bank to help prevent and respond to the COVID–19 pandemic. The financing covers a range of interventions to strengthen health services, minimize the losses to both the public and private sectors, and to safeguard lives and livelihoods overall.

“The World Bank is ready to support Romania in confronting the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on people by providing fast disbursing financial support as well as through our long-term engagement,” said Tatiana Proskuryakova, World Bank Country Manager for Romania and Hungary. “While the situation is still developing, we will continue support Romania to overcome this crisis.”

Romania was able to benefit from a pre-arranged loan which has a Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (CAT-DDO) facility that the Government negotiated with the World Bank in June 2018. The objective of this program is to strengthen Romania’s institutional and legal framework to effectively manage the physical, social and fiscal impacts of health emergencies, natural disasters and climate change. As well as supporting the government with critical policy reforms to build resilience, this facility enables the government to access financing within 48 hours in response to a natural disaster or health emergency.