Dhe World Bank has announced an additional $1.5 billion (€1.4 billion) in aid to Ukraine. The new funds would be used to pay wages for government employees and social workers, the organization said on Tuesday. The organization advertises to donor countries and uses the “flexibility of our various financing instruments to enable Ukrainians to access health services, education and social protection”. The World Bank pointed out that almost two billion dollars in aid have been paid out with the new funds so far. This increases the previously planned aid package to a total of more than four billion dollars.
The institute also lowered its global growth forecast to 2.9 percent — 1.2 percentage points below the January forecast — largely due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The World Bank has warned that weak economic growth coupled with rising prices could cause great suffering in many developing countries. “The risk of stagflation is significant, with potentially destabilizing consequences for low- and middle-income economies,” said World Bank President David Malpass. “For many countries it will be difficult to avoid a recession.”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine at the end of February has created a humanitarian crisis and severely damaged the country’s economy. Important infrastructure was destroyed and grain exports blocked. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his government needs $7 billion a month to stay operational.
