WASHINGTON, January 21, 2021 – The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a $500 million loan to strengthen Indonesia's financial and fiscal resilience. The loan will help the country build and strengthen its financial response to natural disasters, climate risks, and health-related shocks.

Such shocks and disasters have become a constant threat to Indonesia's development progress. From 2014 to 2018, the central government spent between US$90 million and US$500 million annually on disaster response and recovery, while local governments spent an estimated additional $250 million over the same period.

The cost of disasters is expected to increase further due to climate change and urban growth, adding to the burden on public spending. The needs are particularly acute now, with Indonesia experiencing multiple financial, fiscal, and social impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Financial preparedness for disasters, climate shocks, and health crises such as COVID-19 is increasingly important for Indonesia. This support will help the government deliver a more targeted and timely response, reducing the impact of disasters and helping to protect Indonesia’s development progress," said Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia.

Planning an effective financial response after disasters and climate shocks helps to protect the budget and ultimately the population. By reducing the impacts of disasters, such planning can help protect the poor and vulnerable who often bear the brunt of disasters as they tend to live in hazard areas, lack access to basic services, and have limited access to financial resources to cope with the aftermath.

The new project will support the Government’s National Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance Strategy by strengthening Indonesia’s fiscal and financial resilience through a Pooling Fund for Disasters. This fund will become the central mechanism through which post-disaster financing can flow from different sources. The fund will look to leverage domestic and international insurance markets to provide financial capacity to backstop the fund.

The project will also help ensure effective and transparent flow of the funds to relevant government agencies, including budget tracking on disaster-related expenditures, faster social assistance payments for victims of disasters, and improved preparedness planning for health shocks. Central and local government agencies will receive additional, faster, and more effective financial support after a disaster.

"The improved availability and flow of funds will ultimately support the population of Indonesia who will benefit from faster and better targeted response to disaster and health shocks. This will particularly benefit the poorest and most vulnerable, who are most affected by delayed disaster response and often lose their livelihoods and incomes, which keeps them in poverty," said Satu Kahkonen, World Bank Country Director for Indonesia and Timor-Leste.

The project is supported by a $14 million grant from the Global Risk Financing Facility (GRiF) to assist building technical capacity, environmental and social management systems, bring new technology to the management of the Pooling Fund, and invest in evaluations and learning, including how to best serve the most  vulnerable groups. Supported by a Multi-Donor Trust Fund with over $200 million from Germany and the United Kingdom, GRiF provides grants and technical expertise to help developing countries safeguard progress and recover more quickly from the financial impacts of climate shocks, disasters, and crises.

World Bank Group Response to COVID-19
The World Bank Group, one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries, is taking broad, fast action to help developing countries strengthen their pandemic response. It is supporting public health interventions, working to ensure the flow of critical supplies and equipment, and helping the private sector continue to operate and sustain jobs. 

The WBG is making available up to $160 billion over a 15-month period ending June 2021 to help more than 100 countries protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses, and bolster economic recovery. This includes $50 billion of new IDA resources through grants and highly concessional loans and $12 billion for developing countries to finance the purchase and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

The original press release can be found here.