Pakistan signs $1.3B loan agreement with Asian Development Bank

The Asian Development Bank - ADB. Photo: The Financial Daily. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.

ISLAMABAD, Dec 10, 2019, The Financial Daily. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Pakistan on Monday struck a loan agreement of $1.3 billion for budgetary support and reforms of the country. This will help stabilise the foreign exchange reserves of the country, and strengthen Pakistan’s slowing economy, The Financial Daily reported.

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar was present on the occasion, while Economic Affairs Division Secretary Syed Pervaiz Abbas and ADB Country Director Xiahong Yang signed the agreement, according to a press release.

Under the agreement, ADB has committed to providing $1 billion towards the Economic Stabilisation Programme which aims to improve exchange rate management, strengthen public financial management, restore allocative efficiency of scarce public resources and reduce the social impacts of macroeconomic stability measures, said the press release.

Out of the total $1.3 billion loan, $300 million have been earmarked for reforms in the energy sector and the Financial Stability Programme. This aims to address energy shortfalls as well as policy related shortcomings in the country’s energy sector.

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