Islamic Development Bank pledges $4bn to Pakistan in floods relief

The Islamic Development Bank has pledged $4.2bn to Pakistan over three years to help the South Asian country finance its rebuilding plan after devastating floods left a third of the nation inundated in the summer, a minister said.
The international “community and development partners are demonstrating exemplary compassion for flood victims,” Pakistan’s Information Minister Marrirum Aurangzeb said in a Twitter post after an appeal by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at a conference in Geneva yesterday.
The European Union pledged equivalent to $534mn for the reconstruction plan, President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said in a message at the conference.
The Asian Development Bank “will reprioritise up to $1 billion for climate and disaster risk reconstruction as well as resilience support over the next three years,” according to a statement by the lender, citing a vice-president Shixin Chen.
At the conference, Sharif appealed for $8bn from the global community, or about half of the total financing need, to help the country rebuild houses and farms along with rehabilitate people impacted by the floods. He said the nation plans to fund the remaining half from its own resources.
“I am asking for your support for those who have lost their life savings, their homes and livelihoods,” said Sharif at the conference co-hosted by Pakistan and the United Nations. “For those who are sitting under the blue sky facing the harshness of winter.”
Pakistan’s floods killed more than 1,700 people and cut the nation’s growth by half. The United Nations has previously said the global community hasn’t provided enough funds after the floods.
The nation is also open to debt swaps and other financial instruments with friendly countries that will help free up resources to spend on flood-related activities, said finance minister Ishaq Dar.