AIIB shows attention to invest in Pakistan Infrastructure Bond

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has articulated interest to invest $400 million in the Pakistan Infrastructure Bond.

According to Ministry of Finance, the bank has substantiated its preparation to invest amount into a 10-year bond, which the government will propose soon in order to amplify funds for mega projects. This decision was informed to Pakistan by AIIB in the preceding month.

However, the projects which are mainly focused for funding by AIIB investment includes Dasu hydroelectric power project and prime minister’s housing scheme.

The sources also added that, the government has started the proceedings for issuing of bonds for placement with the AIIB at striking rates.

AIIB was created in 2016, and till date it has invested in only two Pakistani projects, and has rejected number of proposals for investment in the energy division. However, the bank has dedicated funds for Tarbela dam’s fifth extension and the M4 motorway.

Bangladesh is also considered as key beneficiary of the AIIB loans in the South Asian region.

The Finance Minister, Asad Umar had highlighted the concern of the AIIB’s scarcity of revelation in Pakistan during a meeting with the bank’s senior executives. This meeting was organized last month in Indonesia on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank annual meetings.

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Furthermore, the AIIB has now guaranteed Pakistan for sending up a technical team in order to discover future investment prospects. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank continue their status as Pakistan’s largest multilateral lenders.

It needs to be mention here that, the AIIB’s conclusion to invest in Pakistan’s bonds will take time, which can be long period for the government, as it is one of the important decision. Also, World Bank and the Asian Development Bank has one major objection with Pakistan as it takes a longer-than-usual time just to get compulsory approvals, which sometimes takes time up to 1 or 1.5 years.

Furthermore, the new Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has now proclaimed that it will arrange Rs100 billion outside of the budget books in the current fiscal year in order to fund mega development projects.