AIIB approves $100m loan to Bangladesh to fight Covid-19

China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) said today it would lend $100 million to Bangladesh to help the country deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The project will be co-financed by the World Bank and aims to increase the country's testing, tracing and treatment capacity, as well as its pandemic preparedness, according to a statement by the AIIB, reports Reuters.

The loan is part of AIIB's $13 billion funding facility to help public and private sectors fight the pandemic. The bank had already loaned Bangladesh $250 million through this facility in May.