Category: 1. Pakistan

KARACHI: Pakistan will use a $1.4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund’s climate resilience fund to expand fiscal space, embed climate planning into public investment decisions and unlock private-sector capital for green projects, the IMF said on Friday.

The financing, approved by the IMF’s Executive Board in May under its Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), is part of a broader reform program that aims to help Pakistan adapt to increasingly frequent and devastating climate shocks.

Pakistan is the first country in the Middle East and Central Asia region to access the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility. The fund was launched in 2022 to help climate-vulnerable low- and middle-income countries make the structural changes needed to protect their economies and populations.

“The RSF will help build climate resilience in Pakistan by creating fiscal space to address climate vulnerabilities, such as the need to improve climate-resilient adaptation infrastructure,” the IMF’s country office in Islamabad told Arab News in a written response.

“It will also boost climate’s prominence in public investment management and budget processes,” the statement said, “helping Pakistan better identify and target projects needed to strengthen resilience to climate shocks.”

A third pillar of the reforms, the IMF said, is improving the overall “enabling environment for green investment” so that banks and private firms could incorporate climate-related risk considerations into their risk management and investment activities.

The RSF financing will be disbursed over a 28-month period and runs alongside Pakistan’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), whose first review was also approved in May, releasing roughly $1 billion in immediate support.

CLIMATE-FINANCE GAP

Pakistan, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, has long struggled to align its public finances with the scale of climate risk it faces. The 2022 floods alone affected over 33 million people and caused more than $30 billion in damages and economic losses.

By reforming how climate priorities are reflected in budget planning and investment screening, the IMF says Pakistan will be better equipped to attract funding and respond to future disasters.

The RSF does not fund individual infrastructure projects. Instead, it supports “policy and institutional reforms that make climate action more effective,” the statement explained.

These include reforms in disaster coordination, water and irrigation infrastructure, and provincial implementation capacity.

The IMF program supports better coordination between the federal and provincial governments on disaster risk financing, a chronic weakness in past emergency responses, and policy changes that would strengthen water and irrigation management, the lender added in the statement.

“Policy reforms that directly target Pakistan’s water management and irrigation infrastructure would help make farmers more resilient to climate shocks,” it said, adding the focus would be on improving irrigation service standards, reliability, and water supply adequacy.

The reforms also aim to reduce waterlogging, salinity, groundwater depletion, and growing water insecurity, issues that disproportionately impact poor rural communities.

The IMF said its climate program in Pakistan takes a “whole-of-government” approach, with many reforms to be implemented at the provincial level.

“Much of the focus is on improving coordination mechanisms between the federal government and the provinces.”

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ISLAMABAD, Jul 04 (APP): On the instructions of Prime Minister, a key meeting of the special task force formed to address the issues of pilgrims traveling to Iran and Iraq was held under the chairmanship of Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Chaudhry Salik Hussain, and Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry also attended the meeting.

Important decisions were made to improve the facilities and security for pilgrims. The Civil Aviation Authority briefed that the number of weekly flights to Iran has been increased from 6 to 15, while 107 special flights have been arranged for Iraq during Arbaeen.

The task force also discussed increasing the number of flights further and launching a ferry service in the future to provide better travel facilities for pilgrims.

It was agreed that after Ashura, the security situation would be reviewed again, and a decision will be made regarding overland travel to Iraq for Arbaeen.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi emphasized that protecting pilgrims from any hardship or difficulty is a top priority. “The safety of pilgrims is most precious,” he said.

The task force also decided that from January 1, 2025, a new system for Group Organizers will be implemented, and the existing Salar System will be completely discontinued. From January 1, 2026, only registered Group Organizers will be allowed to arrange pilgrimages.

The FIA and other relevant agencies have been instructed to take all necessary steps to prevent illegal travel to Iraq under the guise of pilgrimage.

So far, 1,413 applications for the registration of Group Organizers have been received, and the scrutiny process is ongoing.

Representatives from the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Information, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended the meeting. Senior officials from FIA, Civil Aviation, Balochistan government, and law enforcement agencies joined via Zoom.

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — A multistory building collapsed Friday in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, killing at least six people and injuring several others, officials said.

Rescuers were using heavy machinery to search for several survivors believed to be trapped under the debris, said Javed Nabi, a government administrator.

Residents said the building was located on a narrow street, making it difficult for rescue teams to bring in additional heavy equipment. Television footage showed rescuers removing the rubble and evacuating nearby buildings as a precaution.

Building collapses are common in Pakistan, where construction standards are often poorly enforced. Many structures are built with substandard materials, and safety regulations are frequently ignored to cut costs.

In June 2020, an apartment building collapsed in Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province, killing 22 people.