Funds for health facilities eased by RBI, amidst the second wave of COVID-19
- ByStartupStory | May 7, 2021
As per the reports, amidst the deadly second wave of COVID-19, with more than three lakh new cases and over 3,000 deaths being recorded daily the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Wednesday announced that it will provide a term-liquidity facility of Rs 50,000 crore to ease access of funds for emergency health facilities.
In accordance with the on-tap liquidity scheme of the RBI, banks will be able to provide fresh lending support to a broad range of entities supporting health facilities, inclusive of vaccine manufacturers, importers/suppliers of vaccines and priority medical devices; hospitals/dispensaries; pathology labs; manufacturers and suppliers of oxygen and ventilators; importers of vaccines and Covid-related drugs; logistics firms and also patients for treatment.
Banks will be able to lend directly for the above causes or through intermediary financial entities regulated by the central bank.
The RBI governor said that India had managed to flatten the COVID-19 infection curve in March, till new mutants of the virus emerged highlighting the fact that wide-ranging swift actions were needed to contain the spread of the virus in the second wave of the pandemic.