The World Bank approved financing of about $500 million for Afghanistan to boost the economy and support Afghan refugees.
The six grants, including donor money, worth some $520 million would help the Afghan government “at a time of uncertainty when risks to the economy are significant.”
The largest chunk of the package, some $205.4 million, will go toward supporting communities affected by refugees returning from Pakistan. Some 800,000 Afghans have been sent back from Pakistan and Iran, many of them left to rely on subsistence income in rural areas or low-paid work in towns.
In addition, $100 million will support reforms and business development for the poor; $20 million will go to improving services in five provincial capital cities; $29.4 million will help establish wheat reserves and improve grain storage; and $60 million will boost electricity in the western Herat province.
