By Marino Donati | 13 November 2014

Liberia will receive $30m from the World Bank to expand its economy, improve transparency, and improve health services in the wake of the Ebola epidemic.

The money, approved by the World Bank’s board of executive directors yesterday, is to support Liberia’s medium-term strategy to strengthen its transparency and accountability mechanisms, increase access to quality education, and improve health services critical to fighting Ebola.

The financing includes a $20m International Development Association credit and a $10m grant from the World Bank Group’s IDA Crisis Response Window, which is to help low-income IDA countries respond to exceptionally severe crises.

The money will support the Second Poverty Reduction Support Operation, which aims to transform Liberia into a more prosperous and inclusive society, and help the country to achieve middle-income country status by 2030.

The specific targets are reducing corruption, providing credit to farmers and resolving constraints to infrastructure growth such as a lack of human resources and financing.

It will also help improve access to, and the quality of, education and health services.

Inguna Dobraja, World Bank country manager for Liberia, said: ‘Liberia has made significant progress in reducing poverty after a history of conflict, but the country is now faced with heightened challenges brought on by the Ebola epidemic.’

The World Bank Group is mobilising nearly $1bn in financing for the countries hardest hit by the Ebola crisis.