Allocate $ 5 billion to the countries of the Middle East and North Africa within one year

the vice president said World Bank Group For the Middle East and North Africa, Farid Belhaj, in an interview with Al Arabiya, on the sidelines of the meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, said that in the last twelve months, 5 billion dollars have been allocated to the countries of the Middle East and North Africa.

Farid Belhaj explained that World Bank funding to Middle East and North African countries included the supply of approximately $ 1.8 billion to Morocco, nearly $ 1 billion to Egypt, approximately $ 500 million to Tunisia and 800 million dollars to Jordan.

“We expect to maintain the same level of funding over the next year,” he added.

Belhaj stressed that the World Bank’s soft loans are neither immediately nor profoundly affected by the increase in interest rates.

He said that the loans granted to countries are aimed at development, are aimed at supporting countries and are not intended to increase the volume of indebtedness.

He revealed that World Bank loans are soft to the maximum extent possible.

Interestingly, the World Bank announced in a report released last February that air pollution costs the Middle East and North Africa about $ 141 billion annually, urging countries in the region to make their economies “more greens”.

The World Bank report indicated that the cost of air pollution, in addition to pollution of the seas and coasts, is “estimated at more than 3% of GDP” in some countries in the region such as Egypt, Lebanon and Yemen, noting that “the levels of air pollution in the main cities of the region are among the highest in the world”.

“Productivity decreases if residents are unable to work after they or their family members become ill from air pollution,” says the report, entitled “Clear Skies, Clear Seas”, “Healthcare costs can be a burden. meaningful to individuals and governments. “