ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Asian Development Bank have agreed on a $799.2 million loan programme.
The representatives from both sides signed a letter of exchange for the establishment of “Pakistan National Fund for Disaster Management”, a programme loan for “Sustainable Energy Sector Reform Programme- Subprogram II” and two project loans of “Advance Metering Infrastructure Project and New Customer Information and Billing System for entire company in IESCO and LESCO”.
The letter of exchange and loan agreements were signed by Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Secretary Tariq Bajwa and Asian ADB Country Director Dr Werner E Liepach. Federal Minister for Finance Senator Ishaq Dar witnessed the signing ceremony. The representatives of Japan, Belgium, Norway and Australia were also present in the ceremony.
The “Pakistan National Fund for Disaster Management” will be a government-led and owned long term instrument for disaster management. The fund will facilitate the implementation priorities and objectives set out in the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) approved in 2013.
The programme loan “Sustainable Energy Sector Reform Program- Subprogram II”, amounting to $400 million will support the implementation of the objectives of the GoP National Power Policy 2013 to develop an efficient and consumer oriented power system to meet the need of the people and economy. The operation particularly focuses on policy and institutional actions that will restore financial viability and thus reduce the burden of public financing for the energy sector. Within this overall strategic focus, the action prioritized would ensure a sustainable least cost generation mix for affordability, a transparent and predictable policy and regulatory framework to attract financial investments, protect consumers and strengthen the credit worthiness of companies in the power sector.
