KARACHI: The World Bank has appointed Bolormaa Amgaabazar as its new country director for Pakistan, effective tomorrow, Tuesday, succeeding Najy Benhassine who had held the position since 2020.

Amgaabazar’s appointment comes as the World Bank launches a major new 10-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF) with Pakistan, committing up to $40 billion in combined support from its financing arms. The CPF, approved earlier this year, will focus on tackling child stunting, improving education, strengthening climate resilience, and supporting structural reforms to boost private sector-led growth.

“The World Bank and Pakistan have a long-standing partnership that has benefited millions of people over generations,” Amgaabazar said in a statement. 

“I look forward to deepening our engagement with the federal and provincial governments, local institutions, civil society, the private sector, development partners, and other stakeholders.”

A Mongolian national, Amgaabazar joined the World Bank in 2004 and has worked in East Asia and the Pacific, Africa, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. She previously held leadership roles in the Bank’s offices in the Kyrgyz Republic and, most recently, Indonesia and Timor-Leste. Prior to joining the Bank, she worked in international development in Mongolia and Southeast Asia.

“We will continue to support Pakistan to address some of its most acute development challenges including child stunting, learning poverty, its exceptional exposure to the impacts of climate change, and the sustainability of its energy sector,” Amgaabazar added.

Since the World Bank Group started operating in Pakistan in 1950, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the main lending arm of the Bank, has provided over $48.3 billion in assistance. The International Finance Corporation, which focuses on private sector development, has invested approximately $13 billion to advance private sector‑led solutions, and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement to encourage foreign direct investment, has provided $836 million in guarantees. 

The current portfolio for IBRD, IFC and MIGA in Pakistan includes 106 projects and a total commitment of $17 billion.

The country has teetered on the brink of economic crisis for several years and economists and international financial institutions have called for major economic reforms.

Pakistan is currently under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund bailout program, which requires the country to boost government revenues and shore up external sources of financing, much of which comes from loans from China and Gulf nations.