World Bank grants Afghanistan $520 Million to boost economy

The World Bank on 13 June 2017 approved a USD 520 million package of funding for projects to boost Afghanistan's economy and build critical infrastructure.

The funding also seeks to support Afghan refugees sent back from Pakistan.

The Work Bank stated that the six cash grants, including donor money from Denmark, Germany and Japan, will help the Afghan government "at a time of uncertainty when risks to the economy are significant."

The six grants of USD 520 million consist of:

• USD 205.45 million in additional financing from International Development Association (IDA), donors and the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) to the Citizens’ Charter Afghanistan Project to support communities with internally displaced persons and returnees from Pakistan.

• USD 100 million from IDA to the Inclusive Growth Development Policy Grant to support reforms that expand access to economic opportunities for the vulnerable and promote private sector development.

• USD 20 million from IDA to the Urban Development Support Project to strengthen urban policy-making in national agencies, and strengthen management and service delivery in five provincial capital cities.

• USD 60 million from IDA to the Herat Electrification Project to provide access to electricity to households, institutions and businesses in selected areas of Herat Province.

• USD 29.45 million from IDA and donors to the Afghanistan Strategic Grain Reserve Project to finance establishing strategic wheat reserves and improve the efficiency of grain storage management.

• The Board also approved restructuring the Afghanistan Rural Access Project, which aims to benefit rural communities through access to all-season roads. The approval made it possible for ARTF to provide $105 million in additional financing to the project.    

Why Afghanistan needs the grant?

• NATO forces have been withdrawing troops from Afghanistan since 2011, causing a deterioration of security which has fuelled economic uncertainty and slower growth.

• The funding package will help the country in particular to cope with an influx of refugees while expanding opportunities for the poor, boosting the development of five provincial capitals, expanding electrification, improving food security and building rural roads.