MANILA - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday said it has approved a $100 million loan to the government of Mongolia to mitigate the severe health and economic impacts of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

"I commend the government on its response to the COVID-19 outbreak, which has kept the number of COVID-19 cases low in Mongolia," ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said in a statement.

However, Asakawa said "the crisis is putting a strain on the economy and the threat to public health remains serious."

ADB's assistance will help fund critical support to vulnerable people and businesses, and assist the government in managing the economic impact and responding to the health and social protection needs the pandemic has created, he added.

The Manila-based bank said the COVID-19 is triggering a severe economic slowdown in Mongolia.

ADB announced a $6.5 billion initial package to address the immediate needs of its developing member countries as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 18.

Later in April, the bank expanded its response with another $13 billion in resources, which brought the total size of ADB's response package to about $20 billion.