Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Pakistan Androulla Kaminara has called on Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and announced that the EU had allocated 153 million euros to support Pakistan in its war against the new coronavirus — COVID-19.
She briefed the premier on measures by the EU to strengthen Pakistan’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, over which PM Imran expressed satisfaction on the growing momentum in Pakistan-EU bilateral relations.
Further steps to deepen the Pakistan-EU partnership in all its dimensions were also discussed during the meeting.
This is not the first relief effort aimed at supporting cash-stripped Pakistan as it fights the global pandemic.
Earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had announced to provide around $1.4 billion to help the country address the economic fallout of the coronavirus outbreak.
“IMF Executive Board approves a US$1.386 billion disbursement to Pakistan to address the COVID-19 pandemic,” the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had said in a statement last month.
The announcement had come after the global lender said the disbursement under its Rapid Financing Instrument would enable Pakistan “to meet the urgent balance of payment needs stemming from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
“The outbreak of COVID-19 is having a significant impact on the Pakistani economy. The domestic containment measures, coupled with the global downturn, are severely affecting growth and straining external financing. This has created an urgent balance of payments need,” said Geoffrey Okamoto, acting chair of the IMF Executive Board, in a statement.
“In this context of heightened uncertainty, IMF emergency financing under the Rapid Financing Instrument provides strong support to the authorities’ emergency policy response, preserving fiscal space for essential health spending, shoring up confidence, and catalysing additional donor support.”
He also acknowledged the country’s “swift action” to curb the spread of the virus and other measures to support citizens.
The total number of infections in Pakistan, by the time this report was filed, stood at 24,954 with 593 deaths.
