PM Imran Khan witnessed the signing ceremony of financial agreements worth $1.5 billion
Pakistan government has signed financial agreements worth $1.5 billion with the three International Financial Institutions – World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) – to improve COVID-19 response.
Economic Affairs Secretary Noor Ahmed signed the three loan agreements with WB country director Patchamuthu Illangovan and ADB country director Xiaohong Yang on behalf of all three financial institutions, according to an official statement.
Prime Minister Imran Khan witnessed the signing ceremony held in Islamabad on Friday.
The disbursement of 1.5 billion dollars will be made available in next few days.
The ADB is extending financial support of $500 million under COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program (CARES) to support Pakistan’s efforts to strengthen the health system and mitigate socioeconomic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The AIIB is extending co-financing of $500 million for the CARES to augment the government’s efforts to mitigate the direct and indirect impacts of coronavirus outbreak
Another $500 million will be spent on Securing Human Investments to Foster Transformation (SHIFT) which “aims to strengthen the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, health and education systems essential for Human Capital (HC) accumulation; recognize and support the contribution of women to economic productivity, and improve the efficiency of the national safety nets”.