The World Bank has agreed to provide financial support to Ukraine worth $1 billion (£770 million) to help keep vital services running as the country grapples with a new offensive from Russia in Vladimir Putin’s ongoing war.
The bank said the money will be used to support the continuation of key government services, including wages for hospital workers, pensions for the elderly, and social programs for vulnerable groups.
Bringing total World Bank support to Ukraine and neighboring countries to about $2 billion, the bank said the latest round of funding was made possible after getting approval on Monday from the IDA arm.
Announcing the funds in a speech in Poland on Tuesday, World Bank President David Malpass said the organization is providing immediate working capital to companies providing vital supplies to Ukraine.
“We are working to assist Ukrainian refugees as they plan to return home, help host communities absorb Ukrainians, and assist millions of internally displaced persons in Ukraine who have lost their homes and livelihoods,” he said.
Founded in 1944 to help Europe rebuild after World War II, the Washington-based institution includes Russia and Ukraine as members. Malpass, who met Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in Munich before the war broke out, said the bank was “ready to Ukraine help With reconstruction when the time is right.”
He is analyzing the effects of the ongoing war, including rising food and energy prices that are expected to have a severe impact on low-income countries around the world, said the head of the Global Development Authority. “[We are] Preparing for a boom crisis that will provide focused support to developing countries.
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The WTO It lowered its forecast for global trade growth for this year, saying the outlook for the global economy has worsened since the outbreak of war on February 24.
With sweeping sanctions imposed by the Western allies in response to Putin’s war, Russian economy It is expected to fall into a deep recession. Former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said the economy is set for the biggest contraction in economic output since 1994, when the country was struggling to recover from the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Russian Information Agency reported that the Kremlin’s economy and finance ministers are working on setting new expectations. “The official forecast will be a more than 10% contraction,” said Kudrin, who served as Putin’s finance minister from 2000 to 2011, according to the report.