Donors 'exceed' Pakistan's expectations with $10b pledges

Donors committed to give Pakistan over $10 billion to help it recover from last year's devastating floods. Officials from some 40 countries as well as private donors and international financial institutions gathered for the meeting in Geneva as Islamabad seeks help covering around half of a total recovery bill of $16.3 billion.

According to the Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Framework that Pakistan presented on Monday, it will need $16.3 billion over the next three years for the initial efforts to rebuild and improve its ability to withstand climate change.

Donations pledged at the Geneva conference: Islamic Development Bank: $4.2bn, World Bank: $2bn, Asian Development Bank: $1.5bn, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: $1bn, Saudi Arabia: $1bn, France: $384m, China: $100m, US: $100m, EU: $93m, Germany: $88m, Japan: $77m, UK: $10m, and Azerbaijan: $2m.

The government has said the country should be able to cover half the cost, but is urging the international community to pay for the rest. Countries appeared to heed that call, with hundreds of millions of dollars promised even before the pledging part of the conference had begun.

According to Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, the highest commitment came from the Islamic Development Bank, which pledged $4.2 billion.

"I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Development Bank group, as part of contributing to the achievement of Pakis tan's climate resilience and development objectives, pledges a financing amount of $4.2 billion over the next three years," Muhammad Al Jasser, president of Islamic Develop ment Bank said in Geneva.

The World Bank promised $2bn, and emphasised the need for Pakistan to "keep spending within sustainable limits". "A truly resilient recovery will not be possible without additional fiscal and structural reforms," said Martin Raiser, the World Bank's vice president for the South Asia region. He urged Pakistan to "address the inefficiencies that are muting investment" and to opt for "more progressive, wider-based taxation".

In addition, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) pledged $1.5bn to the flood recovery efforts. Addressing the conference, ADB Vice President Shixin Chen said going forward, the ADB would reprioritize up to $1bn for climate and disaster risk reconstruction as well as resilience support over the next three years. The key sectors of support included agriculture and natural resources, urban services, social protection, health, and public financial management, he added.

Ms Aurangzeb also announced on Twitter that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has pledged $1bn as part of the 'build back better' initiative for "climate resilient infrastructure & adaptation".

APP quoted the information minister as saying that Saudi Arabia had committed $1bn. In addition, she said China had promised $100m, while Japan had committed $77m. A senior official from the US development agency USAID told Reuters that Washington would provide an additional $100m in funding for Pakistan's recovery from devastating floods last year. "I am delighted to announce that the United States is making an additional $100m commitment to Pakistan to help it recover from the devastating 2022 monster monsoon floods," USAID Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman told reporters on the sidelines of a major conference in Geneva.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris was ready to support Pakistan in its talks with financial institutions, as the country faces huge losses from recent floods. Speaking via video-link, he told the conference that his country would contribute 360m euros ($345m).