Almost 90 pc pledges made at Geneva to roll out in next 3 years: Pak Finance Minister

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 12 (ANI): The Pakistan government on Wednesday revealed that 90 per cent of the USD 10 billion promised as aid by the International community at Geneva, would be projected loans to be rolled out in three years, Pakistan-based Dawn newspaper reported.

“Almost 90 per cent of the pledges made by the international community at the donors’ conference in Geneva for flood-hit Pakistan were project loans that will be rolled out over the next three years,” said Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar at a joint press conference with the prime minister, a day after returning from Geneva. This comes after the Pakistan government called the Geneva conference a big success of the ruling coalition.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the money will only be spent on the victims of the recent flash floods that hit the country. The Geneva conference was co-hosted by Pakistan and the UN to seek assistance from some 40 countries, private donors and international financial institutions for the rehabilitation of flood-hit people in Pakistan.

According to Ishaq Dar, project loan financing had already crossed USD 8 billion, which included commitments from the Islamic Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the World Bank.
“I am not incorporating the pledge made by the Saudi Development Bank on purpose here because it is not clear whether their announcement of USD 1 billion pertains to programme lending or project loan,” Dar said, as quoted by Dawn newspaper.

Dar in response to a question on how he expects the pledges to turn into actual inflows said that it “depends on us”.
“The faster we can design and create feasibilities and impress them [donors], the faster these pledges will materialize,” he said.
Pakistan on Monday received commitments worth more than USD 8 billion as part of the UN conference on climate to help the country recover from damage incurred in the devastating floods last year.

“USAID USD 100 million, France USD 345 million, total USD 8.57 billion, in line with the collaborative vision of coalition of willing,” Pakistan Information and Broadcasting Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb tweeted after the first plenary of the day-long conference culminated in Geneva to secure support for Pakistan after the devastating floods of 2022. The USD 8.57 billion commitments include generous funds from the European Union, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other members of the international community.

The International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan, co-hosted by the UN brought together governments, leaders from the public and private sectors and civil society to secure international support for Pakistan after the devastating floods of 2022. Addressing the Geneva moot, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sought “massive investments” for Pakistan to help it recover from damage caused by devastating floods.

Guterres made this appeal in the presence of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as the south Asian country continues to reel from the impact of disastrous floods that submerged more than one-third of the country.