Bank official terms reports surrounding delay in approval of two loans worth $1.1 billion \u2018unfounded\u2019
\n Islamabad
\nAmid reports that the World Bank has delayed approval of loans worth $1.1 billion for Pakistan, the multilateral donor on Thursday termed the news as \u201cunfounded\u201d.
\nTaking to his Twitter handle, World Bank\u2019s Country Director for Pakistan Najy Benhassine said: \u201cThe press reports that refer to a World Bank decision to delay approval of potential Bank operations in Pakistan are unfounded.\u201d
\nEarlier, the media reports claimed the Washington-based lender has delayed the approval of two loans for Pakistan worth $1.1 billion until the next fiscal year.
\nHowever, Behassine made it clear that all the dates for approval of loans were already scheduled.
\n\u201cThe tentative board approval dates of all of our proposed operations, as well as their amounts, are indicative, and the World Bank decides on the timing for sharing project proposals for board consideration following due process and based on the proposed projects\u2019 readiness,\u201d the World Bank official added.
\nA report published in The News suggested that a finance ministry source, on the condition of anonymity, told a British wire service that the approval of the World Bank loans has been pending since June.
\n\u201cThe major issue is the circular debt management plan in the energy sector and tariff revision,\u201d said the source. \u201cThese actions are pending on our side.\u201d It mentioned that the World Bank and the finance ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
\nPakistan\u2019s economy has crumbled alongside a simmering political crisis, with the rupee plummeting and inflation at decades-high levels, while devastating floods and a major shortage of energy have piled on further pressure.
\nThe South Asian nation\u2019s enormous national debt \u2014 currently $274 billion, or nearly 90% of gross domestic product \u2014 and the endless effort to service it makes Pakistan particularly vulnerable to economic shocks.
\nForeign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) stand at $4.3 billion \u2014 their lowest level since February 2014 \u2014 while the country\u2019s International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme has been stalled since September 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bank official terms reports surrounding delay in approval of two loans worth $1.1 billion \u2018unfounded\u2019 Islamabad Amid reports that the World Bank has delayed approval of loans worth $1.1 billion for Pakistan, the multilateral donor on Thursday termed the news as \u201cunfounded\u201d. Taking to his Twitter handle, World Bank\u2019s Country Director for Pakistan Najy Benhassine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[367],"class_list":{"0":"post-308550","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-world-bank"},"yoast_head":"\n