Pakistan, ADB sign $775m financing agreements

Loans will support rehabilitation efforts in flood-hit provinces

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed five financing agreements of $775 million to support recovery and reconstruction efforts in the flood-stricken areas of Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Sindh.

The government also signed another financing agreement with the ADB for training workers in Punjab, said a statement issued on Thursday. These projects will support the reconstruction and rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage structures, flood risk and on-farm water management as well as improve the power and transport infrastructure in the flood-hit provinces.

The agreements also include a project that will help improve access to quality employment for the skilled workers in Punjab.

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq witnessed the signing of the five financing agreements between the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) and the ADB.

They include a $475 million concessionary loan for the Emergency Flood Assistance Project to support recovery and reconstruction efforts following current year’s devastating floods, and to strengthen Pakistan’s disaster and climate resilience.

The assistance will be provided at the lowest rate of 1% with a 40-year repayment period. An agreement for the fourth tranche of $189 million under the Second Power Transmission Enhancement Investment Programme was inked for post-calamity restoration of power infrastructure, including transmission lines and substations, in the geographical regions affected by the recent floods.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2022.

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