ADB restores Pakistan’s status as family station

ISLAMABAD: In a major development, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has abolished status of non-family station for its staff working in Pakistan after witnessing an improved security environment.

The ADB has reclassified its assessment and declared Pakistan as family station for its duty staff working in the country. Now the ADB staff will be allowed to bring wife/spouse into Pakistan during their stay in the country. Pakistani authorities will have to showcase more steps for further improving its reclassification in months ahead.

The ADB’s mission visited Islamabad early this month and after taking stock of the whole situation took decision for restoring Pakistan’s status as family station for its staff members. Now the formal decision to this effect is expected to be announced early next month.

“Pakistan is no longer a non-family station for the ADB staff as this decision will helpattract quality staff of the Manila-based multilateral lending institution to work here in the country,” top official sources told The News here Sunday. Earlier, the United Nations had also restored family station status for its staff working in Pakistan.

Sources in the ADB and other multilateral donor agencies told this correspondent that after withdrawal of non-family status, the foreign staff stationed in Islamabad would be deprived of some of allowances such as risk allowance, but this decision would definitely improve image of the country.

Sources said the approval of bailout package from the IMF’s Executive Board in early July 2019 will give positive signals about Pakistan and it would be followed by other multilateral donor institutions for increasing their funding for the programme loans as well for project funding. 

After surfacing of an unwarranted situation where Pakistani ministers announced the ADB funding of $3.4 billion before its Board approval, Pakistani authorities were very cautious in releasing any details even about positive development, so top officials working in economic ministries made efforts to stop publishing of this information.

However, sources said improved security situation was paying dividend as the number of foreign visitors stood at 0.6 million in 2013 which had now increased to over 3 million in 2018. With reclassification of the UN and ADB, now the image of the country would be improved and there is need to attract foreign tourists to showcase Pakistan’s beautiful places having potential to earn billions of dollars provided the security remained improved and infrastructure built to cater their requirements.