World Bank to provide Pakistan $20 million loan

The World Bank (WB) is likely to provide emergency recovery loan of $20 million from the multi-donor trust fund (MDTF) for the economic revitalisation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Fata, it was officially learnt here on Thursday. The loan which is expected to be approved by the World Bank executive board next month will enable the government to create sustainable employment opportunities through rehabilitation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), investment mobilisation and institutional capacity building. The MDTF has been established by the World Bank and its development partners to provide support for humanitarian, transition, reconstruction and development programmes in KP, Fata and militancy crisis hit areas of Balochistan. An amount of $14 million has been earmarked for SME development under which a matching grants programme will begin to support enterprises, which have been adversely affected by the ongoing crisis in order to enhance their productivity capacity and restore lost employment. It was further learnt that the development of SMEs will also promote economic empowerment of women by assigning priority to eligible enterprises owned and managed by women. The matching grants recipients will be those SMEs whose businesses have been affected due to direct damage to their buildings, machinery, equipment and stocks. Some SMEs will also receive matching grants to improve their productivity in addition to business development services in areas such as accounting, financial and legal services, market development and project management. The emergency recovery loan will earmark $2 million for attracting investments from the diaspora. The aim of this component is to mobilise private investment to jumpstart the rehabilitation of businesses and reconstruction of infrastructure thereby creating employment. Two main activities will be carried out under this component to carry out pre-feasibility for a private-public sector Diaspora Bond for SMEs” and outreach programme for mobilising Diaspora investment. From / Gulf Today