Pakistan receives $1 billion loan from World Bank, ADB

Dubai - The new funding, which could also help stabilising the falling rupee, will be used to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic and support the economy.

Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves increased by $1 billion on Wednesday after it received $500 million each from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank.

The new funding, which could also help stabilising the falling rupee in the near term, will be used to help fight the coronavirus pandemic and support different economic sectors.

As of June 12, the State Bank of Pakistan, the country's central bank, said foreign currency reserves stood at $10.1 billion, up $11 million from the previous week, while total foreign exchange reserves, which include net reserves held by other banks, totalled $16.77 billion.

Asian Development Bank said Covid-19 hit Pakistan is at a critical point in its ongoing economic recovery programme. "ADB's loan will help deliver programmes for the poor and vulnerable, strengthen the health sector and deliver a pro-poor stimulus to boost growth and jobs."

The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday projected 0.4 per cent contraction in the South Asian country's economy and one per cent growth for the next year.

Pakistan's current account turned into a surplus of $13 million on May 20 against a deficit of $530 million in April 20 and $1 billion in May 2019. On a cumulative basis, the current account deficit has narrowed by 73.6 percent to $3.3 billion during July-May FY 2020 from $12.5 billion during the same period last year, the State Bank said on Wednesday.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

• Pakistan