The Asian Development Bank (ADB) expects to raise funding for Pakistan to at least 6 billion US dollar over the next three years, to help economic reforms and bolster sustainable economic growth, a senior bank official said on Thursday.
The proposed financial support in loans and grants will increase annual funding to 2 billion dollar during 2008-2010 from about 1,5 billion currently.
Juan Miranda, ADBs Director General for Central West Asia, during a four day visit to the country said the bank planned to increase investment in infrastructure, utilities, agri-business and industry, and urban and rural services.
ADB is also looking to mobilize substantial co-financing from commercial banks, private equity groups, capital markets, companies and bilateral organizations, while at the same time ramping up its direct private sector investments, Miranda said.
In addition to the financial support, ADB, together with the Pakistani government, will commission a major study this year to identify new opportunities to broaden the countrys industrial base through both domestic markets and exports.
The ADB, in a special evaluation on Pakistans 60th independence anniversary described it as a country with “poor governance, endemic (rodfæstet) corruption and social indicators that are among the worst in Asia”.
In the first evaluation report in 22 years “Learning Curves: What role for ADB in Pakistan?” the bank said that “Pakistan has provided a challenging context in which to implement a program of development assistance”, although it was a major client of the bank.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
