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World Bank approves US$60 mn to strengthen Laos' financial safety net

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved US$60 million in financing for Laos to strengthen the country's financial safety net and civil registration system.
Some US$35 million will help Laos strengthen its financial safety net, and US$25 million will support an upgrade of the national civil registration system.
The Financial Sector Safety Net Strengthening Project will build the capacity of the Deposit Protection Office, a public legal entity, so that it can fulfil its deposit insurance mandate while benefiting households and small and medium enterprises with deposits in the banking system by protecting them in case of a bank failure.

“A strengthened deposit insurance system will make the banking system more resilient to possible shocks,” said Mariam Sherman, the World Bank Country Director for Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos “This could facilitate the mobilisation of domestic savings, which can be put to productive use and stimulate economic activity and job creation.”
Meanwhile, the US$25 million Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Project will support the establishment of a comprehensive national civil registration system equipped to record key life events. The CRVS will provide vital data that can inform the formulation and implementation of public policies and help the monitoring and evaluation of national and sub-national development plans.
“Poor coverage of civil registration jeopardises the quality of planning and monitoring of programmes at the national and local levels” said Nicola Pontara, the World Bank Country Manager for Laos. “The systematic collection and analysis of key life events provide evidence-based information for policymakers to target specific segments of the population, including the poor, with tailored policies and services.”
This project will help expedite implementation of the Lao Government’s 2016-25 CRVS Strategic Plan and the 2018 Family Registration Law, and meet the commitments of the Asia and Pacific 2015-24 Regional Action Framework on CRVS.
The financing comes from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA).
The World Bank’s IDA, established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programmes that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives.


By Times Reporters
(Latest Update March 31, 2020)


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