Islamabad, Jan 15 (AP) Pakistan's prime minister on Wednesday welcomed the first-of-its-kind agreement with the World Bank under which Islamabad will get USD 20 billion in funding in 10 years to invest in renewable energy, education, and social sectors.

In a post on the X platform, Shehbaz Sharif said the agreement, called the Country Partnership Framework for Pakistan or CPF “reflects the World Bank's confidence in Pakistan's economic resilience and potential”.

Pakistan in 2023 nearly defaulted on the payment of foreign debts when International Monetary Fund rescued it by agreeing to a USD 3 billion bailout to Pakistan.

Last year, Pakistan secured a new USD 7 billion loan deal from IMF. Since then, the country's economy has started improving with weekly inflation coming down from 27 per cent in 2023 to 1.8 per cent last week. Sharif has vowed to reduce dependence on foreign loans in the coming years.

The World Bank's lending for Pakistan will start in 2026.

“Our new decade-long partnership framework for Pakistan represents a long-term anchor for our joint commitment with the Government to address some of the most acute development challenges facing the country: child stunting, learning poverty, its exceptional exposure to the impacts of climate change, and the sustainability of its energy sector,” said Najy Benhassine, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan, in a statement Tuesday.

The latest development comes when Pakistan is trying to overcome one of the worst economic crises in its history with loans from the International Monetary Fund and other friendly countries, including China, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. (AP) PY PY

Development financing: a decade-long Country Partnership Framework secures multiyear World Bank funding for renewable energy and social sectors. The World Bank and Pakistan have agreed a decade-long Country Partnership Framework that commits multiyear development financing to renewable energy, education and social sectors. The Framework targets child stunting, learning poverty, climate vulnerability and energy-sector sustainability, and is intended to support resilience and human capital while complementing Pakistan's macroeconomic stabilization efforts. World Bank lending under the Framework is slated to begin in 2026.