World Bank approves $610m Ukraine aid package
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World Bank approves $610m Ukraine aid package
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The World Bank said Tuesday that it has approved a fresh $610 million package for Ukraine, with financing aimed at sustaining essential services and supporting health care as war rages on.
This comes as Russia’s invasion “continues to have devastating economic and humanitarian consequences,” World Bank President David Malpass said in a statement.
The war has hit Ukraine’s health sector, critical energy infrastructure, as well as transport networks, he added.
Of the added financing, $500 million comes through a loan to help Ukraine’s government with expenses relating to child and family benefits, public employee salaries, as well as utility payments.
“Maintaining these critical public services is essential to limiting the loss of human capital and rebuilding the country and its economy after the war,” said the World Bank.
The remaining financing goes into a project meant to boost primary health care and address increased demand for mental health and rehabilitation services due to the war, among other needs, the bank said.
As of early December, around 5.5 percent of public healthcare providers have been destroyed or damaged in Ukraine, the statement said.
Since Russia’s invasion, the Washington-based development lender has mobilized $18 billion in emergency financing to help Ukrainians, of which $15 billion has been disbursed, it said.
The new funds add to earlier packages including two rounds of grant financing provided by the US government in recent months, each amounting to $4.5 billion, as well as another $530 million in loan guarantees in September.
