ISLAMABAD: Pakistan seek huge loan and grants worth $2.4 billion from topfinancial institution.
The Asian Development Bank disbursed record $2.4 billion loans and grants,including $1.8 billion in programme lending and $634.3 million in projectlending, to Pakistan during the year 2019.
The ADB provided $1.8 billion in policy-based loans, including $1billion inimmediate budget support to shore up the country’s public finances and $500million to improve trade competitiveness.
According to the data issued by the ADB, it also provided additionalfinancing of $200 million to help support the Benazir Income SupportProgramme (BISP) — part of the government’s flagship Ehsaas PovertyAlleviation Strategy, aimed at reducing inequality and investing ineconomically disadvantaged people.
The ADB approved a $235 million loan to Sindh in 2019 to help develop a busrapid transit (BRT) system with innovative energy and climate resiliencefeatures in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most populated city. The bankalso approved a $75 million project to enhance secondary education in theSindh province.
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To help strengthen project readiness prior to approval, the bank approvedproject readiness financing totaling $17.3 million in 2019 for the “CitiesImprovement Project” in Khyber Pakhtunkwa and the “Water Resources Project”in Punjab. In agriculture, the ADB accorded approval for utilising surplusloan proceeds of $21 million for a major change in scope of Trimmu andPanjnad barrages, adding Islam Barrage, while work on Jalalpur IrrigationProject was initiated with $275 million financing.
During the year 2019, the ADB also approved a grant of $5.1 million forenhancing Punjab technology-based agriculture and marketing, marketdevelopment and preparing Kurram Tangi Integrated Water ResourcesDevelopment Project. In the energy sector, the ADB maintained its strongpresence with an ongoing portfolio of $2.2 billion covering energygeneration, transmission, distribution, energy efficiency, renewable energydevelopment, and analytical tools and advisory assistance.
The ADB committed a $300 million policy-based loan that will help Pakistanto address financial sustainability, governance, and energy infrastructurepolicy constraints. The bank’s ongoing portfolio in the transport sectortotals $2.5 billion and spans urban corridors, border crossing points,greenfield motorways and expressways, and existing national and provincialhighways.
