ADB to provide $2b under 3-year plan

Country director says $314 million has already been disbursed from the Vaccine Support programme

ISLAMABAD:

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) would provide $2 billion under a three-year programme, as the continental development institution considered various other options to help Pakistan through one window, its Country Director for Pakistan Yong Ye said on Thursday.

According to a statement issued by the Finance Ministry, Ye called on Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin and discussed matters of bilateral interest. During the meeting, Tarin said that efforts were afoot to reform the power sector, while the increase in tariffs had proved fruitful.

“The government is committed to sustainable economic growth and increasing productivity,” Tarin told Ye. “Short-, medium- and long-term plans are being formulated through the Economic Advisory Council [EAC],” the minister added.

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The finance minister said that the EAC had developed reforms in 14 sectors of the economy, while various schemes would be launched for the downtrodden sections of society under the Kamyab Pakistan Programme.

On the occasion, Ye said that $500 million had been approved for Pakistan under the ADB’s Vaccine Support Programme. “Of this, $314 million has already been disbursed,” he added. “Under a three-year programme, the ADB will provide $2 billion in three years.”