Pakistan major beneficiary of ADB’s food import plan

Pakistan immensely benefited through the Trade and Supply Chain Finance Programme (TSCFP) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for food and agriculture-related imports during the past 18 months. TSCFP supported more than 1,900 food and agriculture-related imports valued at $2.3 billion to 10 countries in developing Asia, with most assistance going to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Vietnam, according to information released by ADB. ADB says it has boosted its support to ease worsening food shortages in Asia and the Pacific by expanding assistance through its ‘Trade and Supply Chain Finance Programme to clear bottlenecks in the import of food and agriculture products. To enhance its support, TSCFP has boosted risk limits on trade finance guarantees for food imports by $300 million. When combined with partner commercial bank co-financing of transactions under the expanded limits, the support can translate into around $500m of extra finance for food imports in the region.