ADB okays $250m for infrastructure

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday announced that it had approved a $250 million policy-based loan to Pakistan to drive sustainable investments in infrastructure and services through public-private partnerships (PPPs). “This programme is part of our comprehensive and integrated package of public sector management support that balances the country’s fiscal consolidation and growth objectives,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov. “The programme will help the Government of Pakistan create an environment conducive to strategic, fiscally affordable PPPs that will bring the country closer to its development goals”, he added. The announcement said the ADB’s loan-supported reforms would increase the absorptive capacity of PPP infrastructure investments by creating a more robust and integrated legal and institutional framework for public investment management and public financial management for PPPs by implementing an integrated PPP policy.