ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — The Asian Development Bank has approved $500 million in contingent disaster financing for Pakistan, money lined up in advance and released as budget support soon after an eligible disaster strikes.
The facilities, provided under the bank’s policy-based lending, form the second subprogram of its Climate and Disaster Resilience Enhancement Program. The program backs policy reforms to improve disaster preparedness and risk management and to build resilience into development planning and investment. It is also meant to strengthen Pakistan’s disaster risk financing framework and speed up access to funds after a disaster.
“Investing in preparedness can help protect lives and livelihoods, reduce economic losses, and safeguard the development gains Pakistan has worked hard to achieve,” said Emma Fan, the bank’s country director for Pakistan. She said the program would help the country carry out reforms for a more resilient future, especially for the communities hit hardest by disasters.
Why speed matters
Pakistan loses an estimated $2 billion a year on average to floods, earthquakes and other disasters, according to the bank. The 2022 floods alone caused $14.9 billion in direct damage and $15.2 billion in economic losses, and pushed up to 9.1 million people into poverty. Poor and rural communities find it harder to recover, the bank said, and women and girls are disproportionately affected.
Last year’s monsoon killed 1,039 people and caused Rs822 billion in damage, according to the government’s Economic Survey, with Punjab taking the largest share.
The approval comes as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif presses at the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye, for climate finance that is “predictable, adequate and accessible”.
