Pakistan signs $772mn flood loan deal with ADB

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has signed a $772 million loan agreement for flood relief with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), taking the total loan for the year to $2.7 billion with the agency.

According to details, Minister for Economic Affairs Ayaz Sadiq and ADB DG Yevgeniy Zhukov witnessed the signing of 5 loans worth $772.6 million for flood reconstruction, skill development, power transmission, irrigated agriculture projects across Pakistan

Floods caused by abnormal monsoon rains and a melting glacier submerged huge swathes of the country earlier this year and killed nearly 1,700 people, the majority of them children and women.

Minister Ayaz Sadiq said the concessionary ADB loan was signed at the rate of 1% for a period of 40 years.

Minister for Economic Affairs Ayaz Sadiq and ADB DG Yevgeniy Zhukov witnessed signing of 5 loans worth $772.6 million by Sec EAD Kazim Niaz and ADB DCD Asad Aleem for #floodreconstruction, #skilldevelopment, #powertransmission, irrigated #agriculture projects across #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/soFBGCfqxw

— ADBPakistan (@PakistanADB) December 15, 2022

The impression that’s being spread is that God forbid, Pakistan is going to be bankrupt, or it is in financial crisis. There is nothing like that,” Sadiq said in a recorded message.

“Had there been such a situation, the ADB wouldn’t have signed these loans with us today.”

Pakistan is struggling to meet its external financing obligations in the face of low foreign exchange reserves that are barely enough to cover a month of imports.

On October 26, Asian Development Bank (ADB) transferred $1.5 billion loan to Pakistan, quoting SBP sources, ARY News reported.