Samoa

No amount/estimate: April 2020, The CBS continues to maintain an accommodative monetary policy. The CBS will encourage commercial banks to reduce interest rates.

No amount/estimate: April 2020, The CBS will encourage commercial banks to reduce associated bank fees and charges.

No amount/estimate: April 2020, Support for the private sector includes a 6-month moratorium on pension contributions for the hospitality sector.

No amount/estimate: April 2020: (i) Support for the private sector includes (a) a temporary exemption on import duties on most commonly bought food items for households, (b) duty concessions to be applied to an expanded list of agricultural and fishing materials.

No amount/estimate: April 2020: (i) Support for citizens includes (a) establishment of the Emergency Price Control Board to keep wholesale and retail prices in check and bring them down, if necessary; (b) provision of financial assistance to members of the National Provident Fund in the form of a refund of their loan payments for March 2020; (c) and a temporary reduction of utility bills (both electricity and water) for 6 months through September 2020; (ii) 30 June 2020, The second package provides a dividend payout by Samoa National Provident Fund, a benefit of WST50 per citizen for a national ID registration, a special one-off pension payment, unemployment benefit, financial support for utility bills, and paid training for the hospitality sector. The government will also continue to assist remote education services; (iii) No amount/estimate: 12 February 2021, The Samoa Tourism Authority continues to implement the WST1million Phase II of the Government Stimulus Package (See Measure 5C) for Tourism and Hospitality, in conducting a capacity building and development program through training courses. More than 700 displaced employees and those working on reduced hours within the Tourism Industry due to Covid-19, are benefitting from this initiative with Short and Formal courses since the initiative began in September 2020.

No amount/estimate: (i) April 2020, To compensate part of the losses in interest income from the 3-month grace period applied to loan payments, local commercial banks will receive payments from the government; (ii) 22 July 2020, The Government of Samoa extends its financial assistance, as part of the Phase II of its COVID-19 stimulus package, to select nonprofit organizations within the country who work toward providing support services to citizens deemed as most vulnerable.

9 March 2021, The COVID-19 Preparedness and Recovery Diversification of the Economic Sector in Samoa (CPRDESS) Project will be implementaed in April 2021 with the aim of strengthening COVID-19 preparedness and accelerating socio-economic recovery through the revitalization, diversification and expansion of the agriculture and fisheries sector. It prioritizes on the creation of sustainable employment opportunities for women and youth in this sector.

(i) April 2020, USD0.71 milion - TA 9950-REG: Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of COVID-19 and Potential Outbreaks of Other Communicable Diseases. As of 24 July 2020, the amount increased to USD.78 million. As of 29 January 2021, the amount increased to USD0.92 million. As of 8 October 2021, the amount increased to USD0.98 million; (ii) 15 April 2020, USD2.9 million - REG: Pacific Disaster Resilience Program (Phase 2) under ADF; (iii) 15 April 2020, USD0.02 million TASF - REG: Strengthening Social Protection in the Pacific; (iv) AS of 20 April 2020, USD0.04 million (Regular OCR) - Trade Finance Program (Loan). The amount increased to USD0.08 million (8 June 2020), USD0.09 million (4 July 2020), USD.16 million (31 July 2020), USD0.21 million (as of 18 September 2020), USD0.22 million (as of 13 November 2020); and decreased to USD0.09 million (as of 12 March 2021); (v) 24 April 2020, USD0.13 million TASF - REG: Developing the Pacific Health Sector (Additional Financing); (vi) 5 June 2020, USD0.14 million TASF - REG: Pacific Economic Management, Phase 3 (Additional Financing); (viI) 24 June 2020, USD0.09 million Supporting Public Sector Management Reforms. 15 July 2021, USD0.10 million TASF (additional financing); (viii) No amount/estimate: 24 July 2020, USD0.04 million cofinanced amount under Strengthening Social Protection in the Pacific (Additional financing); (ix) 24 July 2020, USD0.21 million (TASF) Due Diligence and Capacity Development of Trade Finance Program Banks (Subproject 3). The amount decreased to USD0.11 milllion (as of 2 October 2020), and increased to USD0.21 million (as of 16 October 2020); 29 July 2020: (x) USD20 million (ADF) Health Expenditure and Livelihoods Support Program; (xi) USD1.5 million COVID-19 Emergency Response under the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund; (xii) 10 August 2020, USD0.20 million TASF - Knowledge and Support Technical Assistance for Strengthening Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Practices and Hygiene Behavioral Change in the Pacific; (xiii) 12 August 2020, USD0.06 million TASF - Support for Gender Sensitive Responses to COVID-19 in the Pacific Developing Member Countries; (xiv) 24 November 2020, USD10 million - Pacific Disaster Resilience Program (Phase 3) under ADF; (xv) 17 December 2020, USD0.30 million TASF - Supporting Recovery by Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Pacific from the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic; (xvi) 23 April 2021, USD8 million (ADF) Systems Strengthening for Effective Coverage of New Vaccines in the Pacific Project (Additional Financing) under the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility; (xvii) 22 September 2021, USD0.06 million OSF - Fostering Regional Cooperation and Integration through Knowledge and Capacity Building of Trade and Supply Chain Finance Program Banks.

(i) 26 March 2020, The World Bank, through an IDA grant, has delivered USD5.1 million in immediate funding to support Samoa’s response to the global COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The funds will support Samoa’s efforts to prepare and manage its response to COVID-19; 24 April 2020, (ii) The World Bank has approved funding of USD3.4 million (USD2.9 of which is a grant) to further support Samoa’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic; (iii) The IMF approved the disbursement of USD22.03 million in emergency financing under the Rapid Credit Facility to help Samoa address urgent balance of payments needs created by COVID-19; (iv) 8 May 2020, The Australian Government has committed WST18.4 million (AUD10.5 million or USD6.53 million) in response to the economic and health shocks caused by COVID-19, and is working in partnership with the Government of Samoa to deliver this support package; (v) 19 June 2020, UNDP, in collaboration with UNICEF, provided USD0.293 million worth of testing kits and machine to support the government in addressing gaps in COVID-19 testing capacities; (vi) 5 November 2020, The British High Commission presented a donation of GBP20,000 (USD0.022 million) for ADRA’s continued delivery of humanitarian programs to households and communities as part of Samoa’s COVID-19 response; (vii) 5 December 2020, The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved USD25 million in grants to support Samoa’s social and economic response and recovery from COVID-19 and boost efforts to build resilience to climate change, natural disasters and health-related risks; (viii) As of 7 July 2021, Australia has AUD4.7 million to assist Samoa’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign through the regional Vaccine Access and Health Security Initiative.