ADB to provide Pakistan $1.2 bn annually

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to provide a $1.2 billion assistance package to Pakistan, the major chunk of which will be spent on improving power, transport, agriculture and the urban service sectors.
According to the agreement, the bank in its new five-year partnership strategy with Pakistan will provide the amount annually for infrastructure development and institutional reforms.
The bank in collaboration with other development partners will support rehabilitation of power transmission and distribution systems, construction and rehabilitation of highways and provincial roads connecting to the national trade corridor.
It will also help rehabilitate the Indus Basin Irrigation System and invest in bus rapid transit systems in Karachi, Peshawar and Punjab.
The package will also expand the outreach of the Benazir Income Support Programme, the poverty reduction initiative started by the country’s federal government back in 2008.
About 2.4 million women beneficiaries will be added to the programme with the help of this annual assistance package.
The incumbent PML-N government which inherited the Benazir Income Support Programme has already spent Rs40 billion on the BISP and enhanced allocation to Rs97bn.
Sources in the Finance Division back in April said during the current fiscal year the government had designed the NISP and enhanced allocations to Rs118bn — Rs97bn for the BISP and Rs21bn for the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (PMYP).
The bank will help establish a government-owned disaster risk fund to mitigate risks and enhance resilience to natural disasters.
The bank claims to be one of Pakistan’s largest development partners, having provided more than $25 billion in loans, as well as more than $200 million in grants, as of Dec 31, 2014.
This funding has included 316 loans to improve Pakistan’s infrastructure and services, and to support reforms.
The Manila-based bank is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members – 48 from the region. In 2014, ADB assistance totaled $22.9 billion, including co-financing of $9.2 billion.