The World Bank approves a $ 160 billion emergency aid plan within 15 months to address the repercussions of Corona

Washington-Sana

The World Bank approved today an emergency aid plan of $ 160 billion over 15 months to support efforts by countries to respond to the repercussions of the emerging corona virus sweeping the world.

The Washington-based bank board announced, according to Agence France-Presse, the first urgent financing package for the crisis, by allocating $ 1.9 billion to finance projects in 25 countries and ongoing operations in 40 countries.

"We are working to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to respond to the Covid 19 epidemic and shorten the period of access to economic and social recovery," said World Bank President David Malpas, noting that the poorest and most vulnerable countries are likely to be the most affected.

The bank is also working to redistribute $ 1.7 billion in existing financing, including the use of emergency credit lines.

The bank said India would be the biggest beneficiary of the first batch of programs as it would get a billion dollar facility, followed by Pakistan with 200 million dollars and Afghanistan with more than 100 million dollars.