Jul 3, 2024
World Bank Gives Zambia $200 Million for Drought Response
Bloomberg News
,![A farmer inspect crops damaged by drought in Zambia Photographer: Guillem Sartorio/AFP/Getty Images, Photographer: Guillem Sartorio/AFP/Getty Images A farmer inspect crops damaged by drought in Zambia Photographer: Guillem Sartorio/AFP/Getty Images](/polopoly_fs/1.2092454.1720020205!/fileimage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/a-farmer-inspect-crops-damaged-by-drought-in-zambia-photographer-guillem-sartorio-afp-getty-images.jpg)
(Bloomberg) -- The World Bank has approved a further $200 million of grants for Zambia to help the nation cope with its worst drought in decades, according to a statement from the Finance Ministry.
The Washington-based lender also approved an almost $8 million grant for women and girl empowerment, the ministry said Tuesday, citing a letter from the World Bank.
Zambia will get a total $522 million in World Bank grants this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, which also boosted its financing to the southern African nation by about $386 million to help with the drought response.
Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema in February declared the drought a national disaster and appealed for international aid two months later, with the nation facing a $900 million shortfall this year because of the severe weather.
The drought has stoked already high inflation, which quickened to 15.2% in June, the highest rate in almost two and a half years. It’s also crimped growth. The economy grew at its slowest pace in two years in the first quarter.
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