Government of the Republic of Benin (10.07.2020) The majority of beneficiaries exercising certain trades who were impacted by the restrictive measures to fight against the spread of corona virus have started receiving a subsidy via cash transfers on their mobile phones. 

unicef.org (01.07.2020) The Government of Spain recently launched a national ‘Basic Income scheme’ (‘Ingreso Minimo Vital’), for extremely poor households and vulnerable groups. The means-tested programme is expected to reach approximately 2.5 million people, who will receive between €462 and €1,015 per month per household depending on the number of household members. Total household income and wealth determines whether a household receives the benefit, and applicants should be between 23 and 65 years of age and have legal residence in Spain of at least one year.

Samui Times (17.06.2020) Thailand’s state welfare card holders have been approved to get three handouts of 1,000 THB each as long as they have not fallen under other governmental financial aid campaigns surrounding the efforts to help those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. it will be paid in three monthly installments which have been backdated from May.

IMF Blog (22.07.2020) The practical challenge of quickly getting financial support in the hands of people who lost jobs amid the COVID-19 economic crisis has baffled advanced and developing economies alike. Economic lockdowns, physical distancing measures, patchy social protection systems and, especially for low-income countries, the high level of informality, complicate the task. Many governments are leveraging mobile technology to help their citizens.

socialprotection.org (July 2020) This note describes the main strategies used by, and available to, countries to deliver cash support in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of the note is to inform both ongoing responses to COVID-19 and medium to long term investments in delivery mechanisms that could be used to respond to future crises.