The indicative resources available for commitment during 2021-2023 forsovereign operations for Pakistan is $5.436 billion, says Asia DevelopmentBank (ADB).
These resources comprise $3.645 billion for regular Ordinary CapitalResources (OCR) lending and $1.79 billion for concessional OCR lending(COL).
The ADB has updated its website, according to which the Country OperationBusiness Plan (COBP) 2021-23 for Pakistan is consistent with its countrypartnership strategy for Pakistan, 2021– 2025. These are aligned with thegovernment of Pakistan’s development strategy, ADB’s Strategy 2030, and theSustainable Development Goals (SDGs).——————————
About 13 percent of the pipeline supports the government’s response to thecoronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The final allocation will dependon, among other factors, available resources, project readiness, and theoutcome of the country’s performance assessments, it added.
Co-financing and funding from other sources, including grants from theAsian Development Fund (ADF-13) thematic pool for projects addressingspecific challenges and ADB’s non-sovereign operations subject to headroomconstraints, will be explored to augment the annual indicative resourcesavailable for commitment.
The proposed sovereign lending program for 2021–2023 totals $6,336 million,consisting of $4,546 million from regular OCR lending and $1,790 millionfrom COL (which includes 17 percent over-programming to respond tooperational adjustments).
Policy-based lending operations for 2021–2023 will be subject to resourceand headroom availability under ADB’s policy-based lending ceiling. Thenon-lending program for 2021–2023 is $23.5 million, inclusive of ADB andother sources, the majority of which are transaction technical assistancefor projects in the pipeline.
The update further noted that ADB would increase its non-sovereignoperations footprint through an enhanced focus on financial institutions,food security, and infrastructure.
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ADB also will continue to facilitate trade finance and seek opportunitiesto support demonstrative projects in logistics and agriculture value chainsand alternative financing options for micro, small, and medium-sizedenterprises.
Where feasible, private sector operations will generate synergies withADB’s public sector assistance by providing blended finance solutions,supporting privatizations, and focusing on public–private partnershipopportunities.
ADB will explore policy-based guarantee and local currency financing tooptimize government and private sector financing, and support thedevelopment of Pakistan’s capital markets, it added.——————————
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ADB’s COBP will adopt a multi-sector approach that brings together all ofADB’s resources to provide integrated solutions to clients. ADB will seekopportunities to mobilize private sector financing and partners fordevelopment projects; to enhance financing and technical assistance supportfor public-private partnership projects; and in areas such as climatechange, trade finance, small and medium-sized enterprises, insurance,agribusiness, housing, and tourism development.
Around 29 percent ($1.84 billion) of the COBP is committed for the energysector, 16.4 percent ($1.04 billion) for transport, 14.8 percent ($938million) for agriculture, natural resources, and rural development, 10percent ($636 million) for water and other urban infrastructure andservices, 12.6 percent ($800 million) for Finance, 5 percent ($315 million)for education, and 1.7 percent ($110 million) for the health sector.
