World Bank approves $512 mln financing for infrastructure

WASHINGTON

The World Bank Board has approved $512.2 million in financing for Türkiye to expand access to housing and infrastructure.

The financing is for the Climate and Disaster Resilient Cities Project.

Of the total project amount, $338.5 million will go to the government of Türkiye for developing new, affordable financing mechanisms to enable households to retrofit or reconstruct their housing to increase resilience to seismic and climate hazards, while $173.6 million will go to Iller Bankası, to provide financing to municipalities to build more resilient infrastructure, the lender said in a statement.

“More than 1 million people will benefit from upgraded infrastructure and 32,000 people will benefit from loans to reconstruct or retrofit their at-risk housing units.”

The project will focus on urban areas in the provinces of Istanbul, İzmir, Kahramanmaraş, Manisa, and Tekirdağ, which are highly vulnerable to seismic and climate hazards, the bank added.

“With this project, the World Bank is pleased to make an important contribution to safeguard Türkiye’s development progress and underpin its transition to a resilient and climate-proof future,” said Carolina Sanchez-Paramo, World Bank’s Acting Country Director for Türkiye.

An estimated 6.7 million residential buildings across the country require seismic retrofitting or reconstruction, according to the World Bank.

“These structures were built prior to the introduction, in 2000, of modern construction codes for seismic resistance. Most fatalities from earthquakes are attributed to the structural failure of these older residential buildings.”

Climate-proofing housing and infrastructure is also critical for Türkiye to sustain its economic growth while meeting its commitments for climate change and environmental sustainability. The building sector in Türkiye accounts for about 12 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.