Solidarity with Pakistan is great after the terrible floods. Germany is also putting more money on the table. But the donors also have demands on the government.
Pakistan has received billions in financial commitments for reconstruction after the devastating floods. It expects a need of around 16 billion dollars (15 billion euros) over five to seven years, half of which it intends to raise itself.
At a UN conference on support for Pakistan in Geneva, pledges totaled more than $9 billion, the Pakistani government reported. The State Secretary in the Foreign Ministry emphasized that these are new funds. The Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) alone pledged $4.2 billion.
Germany promised a further 84 million euros for the construction of rainwater retention basins and drainage systems. It could be even more in the course of the year, said Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Development, the German Press Agency.
“Every penny is accounted for”
Like many representatives of donor countries, Flasbarth called for reforms in Pakistan to boost the economy. This includes a program by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which, among other things, provides for the reduction of subsidies and higher tax revenues. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked for leniency in delays because humanitarian aid is the top priority. Because of concerns that money could be lost through corruption, he promised: “An account will be taken of every cent.”
“The recovery of the Pakistani economy is in all of our interests,” said the highest-ranking German UN representative, Achim Steiner, to the dpa. Steiner heads the UN Development Program (UNDP), which prepared the conference. “In the globalized world, we usually find such problems on our doorstep.” On the one hand, if desperation and hopelessness spread, more people could set off on the migration routes. On the other hand, they could join radical forces. “Extremism and radicalization are like cancer in societies that offer no prospects,” said Steiner.
Source: Stern
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