The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $50 million loan to help restore the economic activities of microenterprises severely affected by coronavirus pandemic in Bangladesh.

The loan will scale up the ongoing Microenterprise Development Project, approved by ADB in 2018 to provide a $50 million credit line to Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), a government development finance and capacity building organisation, ADB said in a statement today.

Under the ongoing project, the PKSF, through its 77 partner organisations, has so far provided loans to 39,580 microenterprises, generating 91,430 jobs in rural areas, it said.

This additional financing will supplement the ongoing project by injecting liquidity in the rural economy by providing cheaper financing to microenterprises, helping them continue their business and retain their employees, especially women entrepreneurs who have been heavily hit by the pandemic, said ADB Principal Country Specialist for Bangladesh Jyotsana Varma.

 "The project will increase access to financing from microfinance institutions and further contribute to the growth of microenterprises in the country," she added.