WB provides 1 billion USD in loans for disaster-hit Indonesia

The World Bank (WB) has decided to provide loans worth up to 1 billion USD for Indonesia after the country was struck by a series of disasters, including a deadly earthquake-tsunami that killed thousands.
WB provides 1 billion USD in loans for disaster-hit Indonesia ảnh 1Rescuers moved bodies of victims in Central Sulawesi province on October 10 (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - The World Bank (WB) has decided to provideloans worth up to 1 billion USD for Indonesia after the country was struck by aseries of disasters, including a deadly earthquake-tsunami that killed thousands.

WB CEO Kristalina Georgieva unveiled the funds on October 14 on Indonesia’sBali island, where the WB and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have beenholding their annual meetings.

Georgieva said the funds being made available in the form of loans couldbe used for reconstruction but are also intended to help Indonesia build resilience,so it would be better prepared in the face of future disasters.

A 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami ravaged Palu city inCentral Sulawesi province on September 28, killing 2,073 people and leaving around5,000 others missing.

Nearly 90,000 people were displaced by the quake, forcing them into evacuationcentres across the rubble-strewn city. Officials said it could be two yearsbefore all the homeless are found permanent accommodation.

Clean drinking water and medical supplies remains a very real concernfor 200,000 people in urgent need.

Indonesia isfrequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because ofits location on the "Ring of Fire", an arc of volcanoes and faultlines in the Pacific Basin.

A series ofearthquakes in July and August killed nearly 500 people on the holiday islandof Lombok, hundreds of kilometres southwest of Sulawesi.

In 2004, asubstantial earthquake off the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra triggereda tsunami across the Indian Ocean, killing 220,000 people in 13 countries,including more than 168,000 in Indonesia.–VNA
VNA

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