World Bank to Approve $20 Billion Aid Program for Pakistan: Report
The World Bank is all set to approve a USD 20 billion indicative lending package for Pakistan, the debt package designed over the next decade to secure funded projects from changes in politics governing the country's stances.

World Bank: This big 10-year initiative for countries comprises the Pakistan Country Partnership Framework 2025-35, which targets six important areas as a basis for long-term growth and development.
According to The Express Tribune, the new World Bank framework will incorporate the following themes in terms of mass social and environmental concerns:
- Reduction of Child Stunting
- Combating Learning Poverty
- Enhancing Climate Resilience
- Decarbonizing the Environment
- Expanding Fiscal Space
- Private Investments for More Productive Economies
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Cross-political backup in Pakistan is expected to protect such targeted sectors against political instability and weigh against dissimilar elections in upcoming decades. The program will be shielded from political volatility, hence preventing the disintegration that had previously diluted the efforts of various projects, as highlighted by the World Bank.
Approval and Financial Details of 10 Year Lending Framework
The World Bank board will approve the Pakistan Country Partnership Framework 2025-35 on January 14, 2025. It is expected that Martin Raiser, the World Bank's Vice President for South Asia, will pay a visit to Islamabad after the signing of the approval.
The USD 20 billion lending package will be allocated over the fiscal years 2025 to2035. Of this amount, USD 14 billion will be provided by the World Bank's concessional arm, International Development Association (IDA), while the remaining USD 6 billion will come from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which typically offers more expensive loans.
In addition to the concessional loans, it is expected that the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank together with Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) will lend additional USD 20 billion to sustain the private sector, taking the total package to USD 40 billion.
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Strategic Shift in World Bank's Approach toward Pakistan Development
This was understandably reflected in the fact that the Bank's turn from its prior stance of small, short-term projects into a larger investment with long-term impact into critical areas of sustainable development and growth. The framework will meanwhile phase out financing in transport, telecoms, power transmission, tertiary health care, and higher education, letting long-term, strategic projects with stable impact shape up over time.
In the next decade, the Bank intends to roll out two-year business plans to ensure alignment of the framework's objective with Pakistan's needs and changing circumstances.
The USD 20 Billion World Bank Package impact It now brings up the Pakistan Country Partnership Framework 2025-35 that will create a more resilient and sustainable economy for the country, allowing it to acquire its developmental goals irrespective of political changes. This specific lending package aims at very critical social and environmental issues; thereby it is expected to make a significant contribution to poverty reduction and to improvements in overall well-being in the Pakistani population.
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