$1.5bn loan agreements signed to fight virus.

Byline: Syed Irfan Raza

ISLAMABAD -- Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday witnessed the signing ceremony of $1.5 billion loan agreements with three international financial institutions for combating the Covid-19 crisis.

According to the Prime Minister Office, the agreements were signed with the World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ABB) and Asian Infrastructure Development Bank (AIIB).

An agreement is related to Covid-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Programme (CARES) amounting to $500 million:

The ADB is extending $500m under the Covid-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Programme aimed at supporting the Pakistan government's efforts to strengthen the health system and mitigate socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic.

The AIIB is extending co-financing of $500m under the same programme to augment the government's efforts to mitigate direct and indirect impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sindh leads other provinces in number of coronavirus cases; 5,551 cases, 130 deaths reported across country in single day; complaint management system for healthcare workers launched

Another agreement relates to the Securing Human Investments to Foster Transformation worth $500m. It aims to strengthen the civil registration and vital statistics, health and education systems essential for human capital accumulation, recognise and support the contribution of women to economic productivity and improve efficiency of the national safety nets.

Economic Affairs Secretary Noor Ahmed signed the three loan agreements on behalf of the government of Pakistan and WB Country Director Patchamuthu Illangovan and ADB Country Director Xiaohong Yang on behalf of the World Bank, ADB and AIIB.

The $1,500m loan amount will be disbursed to Pakistan in the next few days.

Sindh leads in Covid-19 cases

Sindh is leading other provinces in terms of number of coronavirus cases as it surpassed the 65,000 mark on Friday.

The country reported 5,387 Covid-19 cases and 129 deaths over the past 24 hours, taking the national tally of cases to 167,956 and casualties to 3,278.

According to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah...