The African Development Bank has approved a R5 billion loan to South Africa as part of a package to help the country mitigate the impact of the devastating Covid-19 pandemic, the SABC reported on Wednesday evening. 

According to the report, the loan falls under the bank’s $10 billion Covid-19 Response Facility and represents its first ever budget support to the country. 

National Treasury could not confirm the extension of the loan when asked by FIN24.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni earlier in the year announced an unprecedented R800-billion intervention aimed at cushioning the economic blow of the pandemic. At the time, he said the country "is facing extraordinary times and enormous economic challenges. We have, however, got the human and other resources, and the resilience as a nation to overcome this challenge."

Mboweni added that R500 billion would come from the fiscus, with R130 billion being reallocated between government departments. He also noted, however, that Treasury was negotiating with international finance institutions for further assistance. 

The impact of Covid-19 on South Africa's economy has already been devastating despite extensive interventions and the country has registered over 5 000 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest in the continent.

According to a recent study according by 30 social science researchers from five South African universities, some three million South Africans have already lost their jobs under lockdown.