The World Bank has approved financing for Turkey in the amount of $512.2 million, with the aim of enhancing the country's ability to develop the housing and infrastructure sectors to adapt to climate change conditions and various natural hazards.
The World Bank said in an official statement that about $338.5 million of the financing value will be used to develop new affordable financing mechanisms to enable families in Turkey to modify or rebuild their homes to increase their ability to address the risks of earthquakes and climate change.
According to the World Bank statement, Iler Bank, a state-owned investment and development bank in Turkey, will use the remaining $173.6 million to provide financing to municipalities to build infrastructure more resilient to natural hazards.
The project will focus on urban areas in the provinces of Istanbul, Izmir, Kahramanmaras, Manisa and Tekirdağ, the World Bank said, adding that an estimated 1 million people in Turkey will benefit from developed infrastructure and 32,000 people will benefit from loans to rebuild or rehabilitate vulnerable housing units.
The credit rating agency Moody's lowered Turkey's sovereign rating one notch from (B2) to (B3), in mid-August, citing high balance of payments pressures and the risk of a further decline in the country's foreign currency reserves.
