Islamabad: The World Bank (WB) recently approved USD 500 million in budgetary support for Pakistan under its Resilient Institutions for Sustainable Economy (RISE) program — a news source reported earlier today (July 1).
The program is aimed at assisting Pakistan in improving its fiscal management, transparency, and helping its private sector. The bank has also made the loan conditional on foundational reforms for Pakistan’s power sector and a move to low-carbon energy.
Reportedly, Pakistan received USD 3.53 billion in loans during June 2020. These included USD 1.3 billion in commercial loans from the China Development Bank and the Bank of China. While Pakistan had initially paid back the amounts due in this regard, the Chinese banks later decided to roll over these loans instead. This is due to the conditions set by the IMF, which state that Pakistan cannot return Chinese loans until the end of the IMF program.
Additionally, the Asian Development Bank also lent Pakistan USD 500 million as a part of its relief efforts intended to fight the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
