China-backed AIIB approves loan of 661 millio euros for Kazakhstan's COVID-19 response

BEIJING (Reuters) - The Beijing-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) said on Monday it would lend 661.8 million euros (£597.90 million) to help the government of Kazakhstan mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

With cofinancing from the Asian Development Bank, the funds will go towards measures including cash payments for the unemployed, new tax incentives to ease the financial burden on businesses, and efforts to mitigate the impact of higher food prices on the vulnerable, the bank said in a statement.

The loans are part of the AIIB's $10 billion funding facility to help public and private sectors fight the outbreak.

(Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.)

($1 = 0.8861 euros)

(Reporting by Gabriel Crossley; Editing by Kim Coghill)