The Asian Development Bank is increasing the amount of disbursing loans three times to developing member countries in Asia.

Media reports said the amount will increased to $20 billion to help countries in combat against the deadly coronavirus.

President of Asian Development Bank Masatsugu Asakawa, said ADB adding $13.5 billion to the initial $6.5 billion package it announced last month because the economic impact of the pandemic expected to more severe than previously thought.

“It is clear that the scope and scale of this crisis require greater efforts,” Asakawa said.

To ensure faster delivery of support, Asakawa said the ADB would streamline its processes and make its lending terms “much more flexible.”

Growth in developing Asian economies, already slowing, set to weaken even more sharply this year due to the coronavirus pandemic before bouncing back strongly next year, the ADB said in its Asian Development Outlook report on April 3.

Its baseline forecast called for growth in developing Asia, a group of 45 economies that includes China and India, to slow to 2.2 percent in 2020 from a previous forecast of 5.2 percent, which would be the weakest in more than two decades.