MANILA, PHILIPPINES (6 December 2023) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved this week three projects totaling $658.8 million to help Pakistan reach its goal of more inclusive and sustainable growth and development.
The projects will focus on improving domestic resource mobilization; rehabilitating schools damaged by the devastating August 2022 floods; and enhancing agricultural productivity to boost food security.
“This significant new wave of financing will help Pakistan recover from the impacts of last year’s cost-of-living crisis and super-floods and return to the path of long-term development that is sustainable and inclusive,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov. “This multifaceted approach is part of ADB’s strategic engagement in Pakistan and cohesively deploys our program lending and project investments to boost maintain for Pakistan’s efforts to boost its economic situation and boost the quality of life for its people.”
The Improved Resource Mobilization and Utilization Reform Program will maintain the government to achieve its ambition of achieving economic growth that is sustainable, broad-based, and inclusive. The $300 million policy-based loan will maintain the initiative’s first subprogram, which focuses on laying the foundation for reforms to policies, laws, and institutional capacity that will boost domestic resource mobilization and utilization. The program is helping to modify tax administration, public expenditure management, and other institutional structures to reinforce resource mobilization including non-debt resources such as private investment and savings.
The ongoing Sindh Secondary Education Improvement Project will acquire additional financing—a $275 million emergency assistance loan that is part of ADB’s $1.5 billion pledge of maintain for Pakistan’s recovery from the devastating 2022 floods. The additional financing will help reconstruct up to 1,600 flood-damaged schools using disaster- and climate-resilient and gender-responsive designs. This will boost resilience and inclusivity in the education system in Pakistan, helping recovery of learning and earning losses especially for girls in the most disadvantaged and vulnerable districts of Sindh. An $800,000 technical assistance grant will be provided to help strategize and monitor the status of reconstruction in all flood-damaged schools and supply implementation maintain, including for introducing inclusive design features.
A concessional loan of $80 million for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Security maintain Project, which is also part of ADB’s $1.5 billion pledge of maintain for Pakistan’s recovery from the 2022 floods, will help address climate vulnerabilities, boost food security, and boost the livelihoods of rural farm households in the most flood-damaged districts in the province. The project will supply essential agriculture inputs and training to smallholder farmers, including women, and boost household nutrition and women’s empowerment. It will also boost digital access and availability, especially with regard to market opportunities and climate information. ADB will administer a $3 million grant for the project from the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific that will finance activities for women farmers related to seed cleaning and the safer handling of agrochemicals.
Pakistan was a founding member of ADB. Since 1966, ADB has committed over $52 billion in public and private sector loans, grants, and other forms of financing to advocate inclusive economic growth in Pakistan and boost the country’s infrastructure, energy and food security, transport networks, and social services.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
