At Least 400 Mn Benefitted From NDB's Covid-19 Emergency Financing: Report

At least 400 million people benefitted under the New Development Bank (NDB)'s financing facility of up to USD 10 billion for loans in response to the COVID-19 emergency, according to an evaluation report by NDB's Independent Evaluation Office (IEO).

The beneficiaries primarily included women, health workers, senior citizens, people with disabilities, farmers and more. The emergency loan was disbursed among its founding member countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The report estimates that through this financing, the member countries were able to provide much-needed support, including life cover of USD 67,400 to 2.2 million health workers.

The report also states that USD 4.17 billion in income support was provided to 206.5 million women. Also, ex-gratia payments of USD 13.5 each to 28.1 million gave some sort of financial backing to senior citizens, widows and individuals with disabilities. Along with this USD 26.9 each in advanced funds was given to 95 million farmers and 142 million gas cylinders were delivered to 75.6 million people.

Additionally, the India-focused COVID-19 Response Programme generated 5.4 billion person-days of employment, with 52 per cent going to women and ensured 100 per cent of district hospital doctors and nurses were trained to meet WHO standards, with 61 per cent of them being women.

NDB's first COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Programme Loan was approved 19 March 2020. The pandemic triggered substantial economic challenges, trade volume contractions and a surge in global unemployment, posing a unique set of difficulties for nations worldwide.

NDB's Independent Evaluation Office(IEO) has presented its findings from the comprehensive evaluation of the Bank's response to the COVID-19 pandemic at a stakeholders' seminar on 7 November 2023 in New Delhi, India. This was followed by an Evaluation Capacity Development seminar.

"The COVID-19 pandemic challenged both the member countries and NDB in terms of magnitude, dynamics and complexity. However, the Bank demonstrated exceptional agility and speed in its response, prioritising the immediate needs of its member countries. The COVID-19 Response Programme Evaluation was the logical next step to identify lessons that need to be thought through and internalised," said Anil Kishora, Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer, NDB.

The NDB's response was characterised by the implementation of the Policy on Fast-Track Emergency Response to COVID-19 and the subsequent COVID-19 Emergency Programme loans aimed at alleviating the pandemic's impact.

"The evaluation accounted for the exceptional challenges posed by the pandemic and the absence of well-established benchmarks. When one comprehensively considers all aspects, it becomes evident that the NDB's COVID-19 Response Programme played an instrumental role in individual country’s programs.

It is heartening to witness the commitment of all stakeholders, to discuss the lessons and recommendations from this independent evaluation," said Ashwani Muthoo, Director General of the IEO at the NDB while discussing about evaluation and its learning.

In an exclusive interaction with BW, Muthoo answered the queries related to the NDB and how NDB is playing a pivotal role as a multilateral development bank. Here are the excerpts:

Q. What are the key points that IEO assesses in terms of evaluating the outcomes of a project?

Ans. The first thing is to look at and evaluate the results of projects to see whether the funding by NDB has actually been used appropriately and achieved the required targets.

Identifying and learning from past projects is important for NDB and other partners, including those financed by the government of India or other organisations.

We conduct evaluations on different types of projects, including sectoral evaluations on transport, infrastructure, climate resilience etc. Then we, of course, do some internal evaluations within NDB of policies and processes.

Q. In recent years, we have witnessed more emphasis given to the sustained financing aspect of infrastructure. What are the crucial insights that the NDB has been cultivating in this domain?

Ans. From an evaluation perspective, what we find critical is the need to ensure two things. Firstly, that sufficient attention is devoted to operations and maintenance post-project.

This entails building capacities to ensure that the infrastructure developed can be maintained after the funding is completed. That is the first aspect.

Another crucial aspect in my opinion, is to have an exit plan in place once a project is completed. This ensures that everyone knows what steps will be taken once the NDB is no longer involved, and who will be responsible for each task thereafter.

Q. Most nations are focussing on developing digital infrastructure along with physical infrastructure. What are the plans of NDB in terms of these capital expenditures?

Ans. The New Development Bank (NDB) has made its largest investments in India so far in infrastructure, particularly in roads in Bihar, MP, and other places, as well as in transport.

The NDB has partly funded the recently inaugurated rail from Delhi to Ghaziabad to Meerut, which the Prime Minister inaugurated about a month ago. As my colleague, Vice President Anil Kishora, mentioned, our general strategy places significant emphasis on digital infrastructure to enhance connectivity within urban and rural areas.

In the future, when we conduct a nation wide evaluation in India, we will assess all the projects and provide recommendations on priority areas for future endeavours.

Q. What are the strategies that Bretton Wood’s banks should adopt from New Development Bank to formulate a more robust plan of action?

Ans. As the secretary mentioned, I will reiterate what he said. The Bretton Woods institutions and other multilateral banks could draw inspiration from the New Development Bank in terms of governance.

In our case, all member countries have a significant voice in policy and decision-making. I have worked at the United Nations International Fund for Agriculture Development for over 30 years.

Based on my extensive experience, including interactions with Bretton Woods institutions and other multilateral banks, I observed that governance should ensure that member countries have an equal or even greater voice, regardless of their financial contributions to the organisation.

This preference arises from my experience, recognising that decision-making often rests in the hands of established and traditional donors who make significant contributions to these organisations.

As the secretary also pointed out, we are now in a new reality, and the Bretton Woods institutions must adapt to the current global geopolitical and economic shifts that have transpired in recent decades.

This sentiment is reflected in the outcome statements of the India G20 presidency. The need for reform is evident across various institutions. In this regard, I believe the New Development Bank, or the NDB, is already making strides ahead.

Among other topics, the stakeholders discussed the need for strengthening coordination and cooperation among different actors including governments, international organisations, civil society, private sector and others for deeper efficiency and better results in crisis-response situations. Participants also discussed the setting up of institutional arrangements to support operational teams when implementing specific multi-country programmes: providing guidance and templates specifically tailored to the programme; as well as ensuring that key quality at entry requirements for funding are met.