Imran Khan's desperate S.O.S lands Pakistan Covid dole; ADB adds $1.7 billion to IMF's 1.3

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be giving USD 1.7 billion dollars to Pakistan to help them contain the Coronavirus crisis and its impact on the economy. According to reports, the announcement was made during a virtual meeting between ADB president Masatsugu Asakawa and Pakistan's Minister for Economic Affairs Khusro Bakhtiar. 

Reportedly, the ADB will be providing USD 800 million by June, while USD 900 million will be provided by the end of the year. Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had approved USD 1.3 billion in emergency financing to Pakistan. Meanwhile, a relief package worth PKR 1.2 trillion (about INR 56,000 crore) was announced by the Pakistan authorities on March 24 to deal with the crisis. 

The doles by the global institutions has come after significant appealing by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been at it continuously, seeking aid and debt waivers rather than taking measures to protect his citizens from Covid, as per his opponents.

Read: COVID-19 Update: Home ministry exempts registered shops from lockdown restrictions

COVID-19 in Pakistan

So far, Pakistan has reported 11,940 Coronavirus cases, out of which 253 people have succumbed to the infection till now. Meanwhile, 2,755 people have reportedly recovered. As the number of cases spiked, the country extended the partial lockdown on Friday by another two weeks till May 9.

Read: Mumbai police share 'savage' lockdown meme on Instagram, netizens hail 'underground memer'

Meanwhile, first detected in China's Wuhan, at present, there are around 2,830, 051 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection across the globe and the disease has led to the death of around 197,245 people. In a ray of hope, around 798,772 people are also reported to have recovered.

Read: Pakistan Army trying to push terrorists into J&K amid the novel coronavirus outbreak

Read: Work on world’s longest immersed tunnel connecting Denmark & Germany to begin in Jan 2021

(With ANI Inputs)