ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has increased funding amount for Pakistan by one billion dollars to support its energy sector, including hydropower and electricity generation programmes. Thereby, Pakistan will get $8 billion instead of $7 billion from the ADB.
The programme has also been extended for improving Pakistan Railways’ services and inclusion of modern travelling facilities in urban cities.
On August 7, the bank signed a $500 million loan agreement with Pakistan to support first phase of the Trade and Competitiveness Programme in the country.
The loan agreement was signed by Economic Affairs Division Secretary Noor Ahmed and ADB’s Country Director Xiaohong Yang. Minister for Economic Affairs Muhammad Hammad Azhar had witnessed the loan signing ceremony and requested the ADB to further scale up its assistance to Pakistan both for programme lending and project financing.
The Trade and Competitiveness Programme is targeted to help Pakistan promote macroeconomic stability, improve export performance and boost economic growth by facilitating improved trade competitiveness, an official statement said.
Under this programme, the government has introduced important tariff and tax related policy reforms to support the country’s export sector and improve its competitiveness internationally and strengthen key institutions involved in facilitating trade, including accreditation bodies Export-Import Bank of Pakistan (EXIMBP) and the National Single Window.
The amount received earlier was also sanctioned to provide defense for the country against external shocks and to finance its trade deficit.
