WB approves 60 mln USD to strengthen Laos’ financial safety net

VIENTIANE The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved 60 million US dollars in financing for Laos to strengthen the country’s financial safety net and civil registration system.

Some 35 million US dollars will help Laos strengthen its financial safety net, and 25 million US dollars will support an upgrade of the national civil registration system, local daily Vientiane Times reported on Wednesday. The Financial Sector Safety Net Strengthening Project will build the capacity of the Deposit Protection Office, a public legal entity, so that it can fulfill 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. Meanwhile, the 25 million US dollars 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 subnational development plans.

“The systematic collection and analysis of key life events provide evidencebased information for policymakers to target specific segments of the population, including the poor, with tailored policies and services,” said Nicola Pontara, the World Bank country manager for Laos. This project will help expedite implementation of the Lao government’s 201625 CRVS Strategic Plan and the 2018 Family Registration Law, and meet the commitments of the Asia and Pacific 201524 Regional Action Framework on CRVS, according to the report.

(Xinhua)