The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday, informed that it has received $1 billion, from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB).

The central bank in a tweet said that the country has received $500 million each from ADB and WB.

The funds come days after Pakistan inked financing agreements worth $1.5bn with three international financial institutions, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Asian Infrastructure Development Bank.

The funds will be used for Coronavirus Active Response and Expenditure Support Program with the objective to support the government of Pakistan’s efforts to strengthen the health system and mitigate the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The amount will also be utilized to strengthen the Civil Registration & Vital Statistics, health, and education systems essential for Human Capital (HC) accumulation, recognize and support the contribution of women to economic productivity and improve the efficiency of the national safety nets.

Furthermore, SBP also revealed that Pakistan’s Current Account turned into a surplus of $13mn in May 2020 against a deficit of $530mn in Apr 2020 and $1004mn in May 20119. On cumulative basis, the CAD has narrowed by 73.6 percent to $3.3bn during Jul-May FY20 from $12.5bn during the same period last year.