Lao PDR

No amount/estimate: 30 March 2020, BOL cut its policy rate from 4% to 3% for 1-week loans; from 5% to 4% for 1–2 week loans; and from 10% to 9% for 2-week to 1-year loans.

No amount/estimate: 26 March 2020, BOL issued a new credit policy for those impacted, asking banks and financial institutions to restructure loans and provide new loans to businesses affected by the outbreak. Under this policy, banks and financial institutions that implement debt restructuring and new loan provisions will benefit from regulatory forbearance on loan classification and provisioning.

No amount/estimate: April 2020, Recent mitigation policies include: (i) deferring tax collection from tourism-related businesses for 3 months, (ii) postponing mandatory contribution to social security by affected businesses for 3 months, and (iii) extending the submission of the 2019 financial report (annual tax filing) by 1 month and road tax payment by 3 months.

No amount/estimate: April 2020, Recent mitigation policies include: (i) income tax exemption for both civil servants and employees of the private sector with income less than LAK5 million per month for 3 months, and (ii) profit tax exemption for microenterprises with annual income between LAK50–LAK400 million for 3 months, (iii) duty fee exemption for imports of goods to be used toward the outbreak.

(i) May 2020, The government has agreed with an allowance of LAK500,000 per worker who currently participates in the Social Security Scheme. Of the 170,000 members, close to 80,000 will benefit from this scheme through June 2020 (Note that the estimated amount is LAK40 billion); (ii) No amount/estimate: 30 April 2021, Electricite du Laos (EDL) is to provide a 3% discount on electricity rates to residential consumers in provinces under lockdown.

(i) 27 January 2020, USD0.60 million under the Greater Mekong Subregion Health Security Project. As of 8 June 2020, the amount increased to USD0.86 million; (ii) 7 February 2020, USD0.34 million under the Strengthening Regional Health Cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion-Additional Financing; (iii) 24 April 2020, USD0.75 million under the Policy Advice for COVID-19 Economic Recovery in Southeast Asia project; (iv) 17 May 2020, USD1.03 million is the estimated support under TA 9950-REG: Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of COVID-19 and Potential Outbreaks of Other Communicable Diseases. As of 8 October 2021, the estimated support amounted to USD3.21 million; (v) 22 May 2020, USD20 million under the Greater Mekong Subregion Health Security Project (Additional Financing); (vi) 10 August 2020, USD0.05 million under the Sustaining the Gains of the Regional Cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion (Additional Financing) Project; (vii) 13 August 2021, USD0.13 million under Strengthening Regional Health Cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion; (viii) 3 September 2021, USD0.30 million under Supporting Enhanced COVID-19 Vaccination and Post-COVID-19 Health Security Response in Southeast Asia.

(i) 7 April 2020, The World Bank’s Regional Vice-Presidency of the East Asia and Pacific Region approved USD18 million for the Lao PDR to help the country respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lao PDR COVID-19 Response Project supports preparedness and emergency response activities, including infection prevention and control, case detection and contact tracing, case management and risk communication. It also supports the upgrade of surveillance capacity and the skills of health-care workers; (ii) May 2020, USD1 million under the United Nations (UN) COVID-19 Response and Recovery Multi-Partner Trust Fund (COVID-19 MPTF); (iii) 20 May 2020, The United States through the US Agency for International Development will provide health assistance amounting to USD4.4 million; (iv) 22 May 2020, The United States has committed an additional USD3.17 million in new funding support, provided through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC), for prevention, preparedness, and response activities in response to COVID-19 in Lao PDR; (v) 5 June 2020, The Japanese government has provided grant aid worth over LAK123 billion (JPY1.5 billion) for the purchase of medical equipment to support Lao PDRs’ efforts to cope with a further outbreak of COVID-19. An Exchange of Notes for the grant aid project entitled “Economic and Social Development Programme” was signed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vientiane; (vi) 20 August 2020, The European Union has provided EUR2.5 million for Lao PDR under the Civil Society Action to Prevent and Mitigate COVID-19 project; (vii) As of 16 September 2020, Germany will provide about EUR1.7 million through an International Labour Organization (ILO) program to help the garment workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; (viii) 22 October 2020, USD40 million under Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Access to Finance Emergency Support and Recovery Project (Terms: Maturity = 30 years, Grace = 5 years); (ix) No amount/estimate: 14 November 2020, Cambodia decided to provide two million face masks and other medical supplies to Lao PDR; (x) 19 February 2021, The Lao PDR Ministry of Industry and Commerce launched a USD40 million emergency finance support project, backed by the World Bank, to help small and medium-sized businesses recover from the economic slowdown associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The project was approved by the World Bank Board of Directors in October 2020 and signed by the government in November 2020; (xi) 23 February 2021, The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a USD57 million project to help Lao PDR promote sustainable forest management, improve protected area management, and enhance livelihoods opportunities in eight provinces across the country. The Lao Landscapes and Livelihoods Project will support economic recovery in light of the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic by focusing on preservation of natural capital such as forests, biodiversity, water resources, soil, and land; (xii) No amount/estimate: 31 March 2021, Australia will extend further assistance with regard to the purchase of COVID-19 vaccine and its transport. It will also provide further technical assistance to prevent, control, and address the virus outbreak; (xiii) 4 May 2021, The government of Viet Nam provided Lao PDR with USD0.5 million as well as 35 medical personnel and supplies to help the country in its fight against COVID-19; (xiv) 5 May 2021, The government of People's Republic of China provided Lao PDR with 25 medical personnel and CNY10 million (USD1.5 million) worth of medical supplies to help the country in its fight against COVID-19; (xv) 13 May 2021, Australia will provide a grant of AUD15.2 million for the rollout of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines in Lao PDR; (xvi) 27 May 2021, The CK Power Public Company Limited (CK Power, a Thailand-based holding company engaged in the production and distribution of electricity) contributed THB1.5 million through the Royal Thai Embassy in Vientiane to the health department under the Ministry of Public Health, and to the health department of Xayaboury province, where CK Power is operating two hydroelectrical power plants; (xvii) 27 May 2021, The United States provided personal protective equipment and supplies to Lao PDR. This support is valued at USD203,000; (xviii) No amount/estimate: 7 June 2021, The GX Foundation (a non-profit charitable organization based in Hong Kong, China) provided medical supplies to support the country’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak; (xix) 30 June 2021, The government of the Republic of Korea provided walk-through virus test booths and a range of essential medical equipment worth USD1 million to support the government’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak; (xx) 10 June 2021, An additional USD15 million has been made available to help the Lao PDR stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, following an agreement between the World Bank and the government. This additional funding is split between an International Development Association (IDA) credit of USD10 million and a USD5 million grant from the Health Emergency Response and Preparedness Multi-Donor Trust Fund; (xxi) No amount/estimate: As of 30 June 2021, The government of Australia committed to a grant of 1 million doses of COVID vaccine; (xxii) 12 July 2021, The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) provided food assistance valued at USD0.79 million for migrant workers returning from neighboring countries during their stay at quarantine centers in Lao PDR. This scheme will be rolled out by the World Food Programme (WFP) and partners to offer nutritious meals three times a day for returning migrant workers. This will be sufficient to give 335,000 meals to an estimated 8,000 people housed in quarantine centers for a period of two and a half months; (xxiii) No amount/estimate: 14 July 2021, More than one million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines are set to arrive in Lao PDR on 15 July 2021, giving a boost to the government’s efforts to protect people against the COVID-19 virus. The vaccines will be provided via the COVAX Facility; (xxiv) No amount/estimate: 28 July 2021, The People’s Republic of China will provide one million doses of its Sinopharm vaccine, while the UK government will provide 415,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine; (xxv) No amount/estimate: 3 August 2021, The Government of Japan decided to provide approximately 0.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines manufactured in Japan, through the COVAX facility, to Lao PDR, as part of assistance to contribute to the prevention of the spread of COVID-19; (xxvi) 30 August 2021, The Australian government donated medical equipment worth AUD2.25 million. The contribution will help the government to increase its virus testing capacity and expedite testing in the provinces; (xxvii) 3 September 2021, The World Bank and the Government of Lao PDR announced the launch of a USD47 million project aimed at improving pre-school and primary education performance and enhancing educational systems nationwide; (xxviii) 1 October 2021, The United States has donated food and hygiene packages valued at over USD0.1 million to the Provincial Emergency Operations Committees in Khammouane and Savannakhet Provinces; (xxix) 3 October 2021, Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group has donated USD1 million in response to calls from Cambodian authorities to strengthen cooperation with Lao PDR in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic; (xxx) 19 October 2021, The World Bank and the Government of Lao PDR have agreed to scale up a Competitiveness and Trade Project that will improve the ability of businesses to recover from the economic effects of COVID-19. The additional financing will provide a USD6.5 million grant through the Lao Competitiveness and Trade Multi-Donor Trust Fund supported by Australia, Ireland, and the United States; (xxxi) No amount/estimate: 6 October 2021, The Ministry of Health received a donation of 30,000 doses of the Sputnik Light vaccine from the Russian Embassy to assist the country’ efforts to control the spread of COVID-19; (xxxii) 25 October 2021, The Government of Viet Nam has donated USD2.21 million as well as medical equipment worth USD2.27 million to the Government of Lao PDR for COVID-19 response [update]; (xxxiii) No amount/estimate: 4 November 2021, The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) handed over COVID-19 rapid tests to the Ministry of Health [update].