MANILA - The Asian Development Bank on Monday said it has approved a $200 million loan, or around P10.1 billion, to support the Philippine government’s emergency cash subsidies to vulnerable households amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

ADB Vice-President Ahmed Saeed said COVID-19 "has disrupted the livelihoods of millions of Filipinos and could set back the very substantial gains the country has made in reducing poverty in recent years.”

"The new loan supports the government’s emergency subsidy program, which was designed to help vulnerable households get through this very difficult period and avoid falling into poverty,” Saeed said.

ADB said its $200 million loan will contribute to the $726 million required to provide emergency subsidies to 4Ps households in April and May.

The multilateral lender said the loan comes after the signing of the $1.5 billion loan for ADB’s COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support program on April 23.

The Manila-based bank approved two grants in March totaling $8 million to support the delivery of food baskets to at least 140,000 vulnerable households in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, purchase of emergency medical supplies, and setting up of a new laboratory that will increase the country’s COVID-19 testing capacity by 3,000 tests a day.