ISLAMABAD: World Bank approved a $500 million loan program to boost Pakistan’s emergency response amid the coronavirus pandemic and protect human capital investments in the country.
The program would help the country improve access to quality healthcare and education, support economic opportunities for women, and strengthen social safety nets as it braces to limit the impact of COVID-19.
The World Bank stated, “The initiative will support greater coordination between provincial and the federal governments to immunise millions of children and reduce their risks of contracting polio and other diseases.”
World Bank Country Director for Pakistan Illango Patchamuthu said, “The global COVID-19 pandemic is impacting day-to-day life in the country not solely from economic disruptions but also an additional stress on public services that jeopardise human capital accumulation.”
According to the World Bank, the programme will underscore the criticality of universal healthcare and social protection services that are durable to exogenous shocks such as Pakistan is facing now.
The SHIFT supports three policy reforms aimed at building Pakistan’s workforce and improving social safety-net programmes, as per the World Bank. Initially, the size of SHIFT was $250 million, which the World Bank decided to double after the Covid-19 outbreak.
Pakistan will repay the $500-million loan in 30 years and it is financed by the World Bank’s concessionary arm the International Development Association.
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