On June 10, 2020, Asian Development Bank (ADB), a regional development bank has constituted a 8-member high-level panel of leading experts in economics, finance, and health, moderated by ADB Vice-President Ahmed M. Saeed, to help ministers, central bank governors, and other senior officials identify solutions for Southeast Asian economies to tap into to quickly recover after the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The 8 member panel includes,
- Jane Halton, chair of the Coalition for Epidemics Preparedness Innovation and former secretary of the Australian departments of health and finance
- Rema Hanna, Harvard Kennedy School;
- Karen Tay Koh, former Singapore Ministry of Finance official and former deputy CEO of SingHealth;
- Ramayya Krishnan, Carnegie Mellon University;
- Anup Malani, University of Chicago;
- Raghuram Rajan, University of Chicago; former governor of the Reserve Bank of India and chief economist of the International Monetary Fund;
- Andrew Sheng, Asia Global Institute;
- Nicholas Stern, London School of Economics; former head of the United Kingdom’s Government Economic Service and former chief economist of the World Bank.
Terms of reference (TOR) of the panel:
The panel discussed measures taken by the various nations to address the Covid-19’s devastating health, social, economic, and financial impacts, and their medium- to long-term priorities. They also discussed structural reforms, innovation in domestic resource mobilization & formula to make recovery sustainable.
ADB’s response to COVID-19:
- The ADB on April 13, 2020 has allocated $20 billion financial response to its members to help fight the pandemic and reboot its economy after months of lockdown.
- Countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Georgia, India, Indonesia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, and the Philippines received a total of $5.52 billion from ADB interventions under the COVID-19 pandemic response option (CPRO) from its $7.2 billion in rapid response loans and technical assistance.
About Asian Development Bank (ADB):
Headquarters– Mandaluyong, Philippines
President– Masatsugu Asakawa
Membership– 68 countries
