ADB approves $500m emergency financing for Pakistan disasters
The money sits under the second phase of the bank's Climate and Disaster Resilience Enhancement Program and funds immediate budget support after floods, earthquakes or other calamities.
The Asian Development Bank has approved $500 million in emergency financial assistance for Pakistan to fund immediate budget support when floods, earthquakes or other natural disasters strike, Express News reported.
The facility is meant to ease the pressure a disaster puts on the economy and on the national exchequer by making money available to the government quickly rather than after a lengthy mobilisation process.
The ADB estimates that floods, earthquakes and other natural hazards cost Pakistan an average of $2 billion a year. The 2022 floods alone caused $14.9 billion in direct damage and $15.2 billion in economic losses, according to the bank, and pushed 9.1 million people into poverty.
The assistance falls under the second phase of the ADB's Climate and Disaster Resilience Enhancement Program. That programme supports reforms in disaster preparedness, hazard management and the incorporation of disaster protection measures into development planning. It also aims to improve how fast financial resources can be reached after a disaster and to strengthen Pakistan's disaster risk financing system.
Emma Fan, the ADB's country director for Pakistan, said the people worst hit in a disaster are usually from vulnerable and deprived groups. Investing in preparation beforehand, she said, helps protect lives and livelihoods, reduce economic losses and safeguard development gains.
Fan said the programme would help Pakistan carry out key reforms and make the future safer and more resilient. It matches Pakistan's national priorities and the ADB's commitment to climate and disaster resilience in Asia and the Pacific, she said.
Express News reported that experts consider poor and rural households the most exposed to natural disasters, with women and girls facing disproportionately severe hardship.
How the reports differ
UrduPoint's headline, the only part of its report available, put the approval together with the programme's purpose of speeding up finance after floods, earthquakes and other disasters. Express News led on the approval itself and carried the ADB's loss estimates, including the $14.9 billion direct damage and $15.2 billion economic loss from the 2022 floods, along with remarks by country director Emma Fan. Both gave the figure as $500 million.
ADB approves $500m disaster financing for Pakistan
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