The World Bank Group says it is preparing to disburse $700m (£529m) in loans for Ukraine this month.
On Friday, its chairman David Malpass spoke on the phone with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The bank’s board is now reviewing a $500m loan proposal called the Financing of Recovery from Economic Emergency in Ukraine or FREE Ukraine, according to a readout of the call.
The loan has been “increased with guarantees from bilateral partners, including the Netherlands and Sweden”, the bank noted.
Malpass also told Zelensky that the bank was working to “provide an additional $200 million in fast-disbursing support by the end of March” and has set up a “multi-donor trust fund (MDTF) to facilitate channeling grant resources from donors to Ukraine”.
Earlier on Friday, he said World Bank shareholders were “horrified” by the war in Ukraine and fear the “huge supply shock” it is creating for world energy and food markets.
