ISLAMABAD: The World Bank on Saturday announced it is allocating $2 billion for Pakistan in flood support, out of which $1.5 billion would be mobilized this year, the Finance Division confirmed.
The development comes a few days after the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it would provide $2.3-2.5 billion to support the South Asian country as it grapples with heavy losses inflicted by catastrophic floods.
Official figures released by Pakistan say over 1,700 people have been killed in rain-related incidents since June 14. Unusually heavy monsoon rains, coupled with melting glaciers, have triggered flash floods that have swept away swathes of crops and hundreds of bridges, roads and other critical infrastructure.
Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar held a meeting with the World Bank’s Country Director Najy Benhassine on Saturday to apprise him of the devastation caused by the floods in Pakistan.
"He [Benhassine] informed the Finance Minister that the Bank is allocating $ 2 billion funds from existing World Bank financed projects for emergency operations in flood affected areas to support Pakistan,” the Finance Division said.
The World Bank executive informed Dar that funds to the tune of $1.5 billion would be mobilized for Pakistan this year to deal with the emergency situation.
Dar, in turn, thanked Benhassine and said Islamabad values the financial and technical support provided by the World Bank for Pakistan’s institutional reforms and economic development of the country.
“The Finance Minister assured Mr. Najy Benhassine and his team of meeting prior actions for timely completion of programmes and thanked them for their continuous support and facilitation,” the Finance Division said.
After the recent devastation brought about by floods and other climate disasters around the world, developing countries have called for big polluters to be held responsible for emitting greenhouse gases.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last month called for debt relief for flood-hit Pakistan as it continues to grapple with the natural disaster and grave challenges faced by the country's fragile economy.
“I need to put our millions of people back in the rooms, busy again with the ordinary life in agriculture, in industry and getting jobs back,” Sharif had said.
“Time is running, and we’re racing against time,” the PM added. “Please help us avoid this disaster.”
