| GEO Business | WB widens loan volume to $1bn for Pakistan: Hafeez | Updated at: 0525 PST, Saturday, August 21, 2010
 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will receive $1 billion from World Bank as a loan to help fund reconstruction in the flood-hit country, a statement from the finance ministry said Friday.
"An amount of $700 million shall be available for flood-related early recovery and reconstruction projects, while an amount of $300 million shall be used for financing flood-related imports," the statement said.
Large swathes of the country have been inundated by floods that have claimed at least 1,500 and affected 20 million people.
The death toll may mount as the scale of the damage unfolds and if relief to the thousands stranded is delayed, say observers.
Roads, bridges, power lines, schools and irrigation facilities have been severely damaged, numbing an economy that has been reeling under unceasing violence. |  | | | |
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