Pakistan’s prime minister on Wednesday ( Jan 15 ) welcomed a first-of-its-kind agreement with the World Bank directing US$ 20 billion in lending to the cash-strapped nation over the upcoming decade to address development issues like the impact of climate change as well as boosting private-sector growth.
In a post on social media platform X, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed a fresh strategy known as the Country Partnership Framework, which the World Bank announced over, would target the international institution’s commitment of US$ 20 billion in areas like clean energy and climate resilience in the ten years from 2026.
The key to boosting private sector growth and expanding the fiscal space for government investment in crucial areas would be, according to the World Bank in a statement.
” We are focused on prioritising investment and advisory interventions that will help crowd-in much needed private investment in sectors critical for Pakistan’s sustainable growth and job creation, including energy and water, agriculture, access to finance, manufacturing and digital infrastructure”, said Zeeshan Sheikh, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation Country Manager for Pakistan and Afghanistan in a statement.
The World Bank has so far given Pakistan approximately US$ 17 billion in 106 projects.
The nation has been on the verge of an economic crisis for several years, and economists and international financial institutions have called for significant economic reforms.
Pakistan is currently a target of the US$ 7 billion International Monetary Fund’s bailout program, which requires the nation to increase government revenues and stabilize external funding sources, the majority of which are loans from China and the Gulf countries.