The World Bank has given Pakistan $200 million in aid to help the most vulnerable as the country deals with the coronavirus pandemic with a lockdown that Prime Minister Imran Khan says will continue until April 14.
The money will be used to provide social protection measures, as well as food for the poorest and education supplies for the millions of children out of school.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted on Saturday that countries in the Indian subcontinent are “walking a tightrope” in regard to their response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“In the subcontinent, with a high rate of poverty, we are faced with the stark choice of having to balance between a lockdown necessary to slow down/prevent the spread of COVID19 & ensuring people don’t die of hunger & our economy doesn’t collapse,” Khan said. “So we are walking a tightrope.”
Khan said that while the agricultural and construction sectors have remained open to “stop the devastation of the lockdown,” Pakistan has essentially shut down every other aspect of public life, including restaurants, schools, and malls.
Pakistan has 2,686 confirmed cases and 40 deaths.
