World Bank Warns of Earthquake: Turkey Needs $465 Billion

After the Kahramanmaraş earthquake, it turned out that the World Bank warned Turkey in 2021.

In its 2021 report, the World Bank called for “big funding,” warning that millions of private properties require urgent redevelopment. According to World Bank estimates, the cost of making or rebuilding millions of earthquake-resistant houses in Turkey is around half a trillion dollars.

According to the London-based Middle East Eye news site, the World Bank report, written in December 2021, showed that Turkey failed to prepare for earthquakes. The bank stated that most of the houses built before 2000 in Turkish cities are highly vulnerable to seismic and weather risks and said that urgent reinforcement is needed.

ONLY 4% RENEWED

In the report dated 2021, “The cost of modernizing or rebuilding approximately 6.7 million houses in Turkey is estimated at 465 billion USD (8.77 trillion TL). So far, only about 4 percent of these buildings have been converted.”

The report also indicated that “additional financing methods need to be developed to make housing rehabilitation or reconstruction accessible to low- and middle-income groups.”

THEY HAVE PROVIDED FINANCING TO TURKEY

The World Bank had previously provided financing to make public buildings in Turkey earthquake resistant. The organization provided Turkey with a $265 million loan in June 2021 for Turkey to modernize or rebuild 140 schools, hospitals and public buildings.

The Bank also provided $550 million in financing for the project, known as the Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation Project (ISMEP), which was carried out between 2004 and 2015 to upgrade public buildings in Istanbul to withstand the impact of the earthquake.

According to the report, the government had concerns about financing the private sector. Starting in 2020, the government began to directly intervene in the private housing sector with low housing loan campaigns.