Islamabad:

20 March 2020 13:49 IST

The meeting also approved in principle a project concept “Pakistan National Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19”.

The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have committed to providing $588 million to Pakistan for its emergency response to fight the coronavirus and to address the socioeconomic impact of the pandemic, a media report said on Friday.

According to an official statement, the World Bank would provide $238 million and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) $350 million to Pakistan in support for the COVID-19 emergency response and to tackle the socio-economic disruption associated with it.

The announcement was made by the Planning Commission after a meeting with representatives of the two lending agencies on Pakistan’s preparedness and response to fight COVID-19, the Dawn newspaper reported.

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The meeting, presided over by Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan, was attended by World Bank Country Director Illango Patchamuthu, ADB Country Director Xiaohong Yang, besides other officials and representatives of the ministries of economic affairs, finance and national health services.

The meeting also approved in principle a project concept “Pakistan National Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19”.

The participants of the meeting agreed that not only they needed to enhance cooperation to jointly fight challenges but also work to demonstrate firm commitment for a multi-faceted cooperation in different fields, the report said.

Pakistan’s coronavirus cases sharply rose to 453 on Thursday, a day after it reported its first two casualties due to COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed 9,800 lives and infected more than 232,650 people in 158 countries and territories.