In the midst of disastrous floods and disruptions to the global supply chain, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has granted $1.5 billion in financing to assist the Government of Pakistan in providing social protection, promoting food security, and supporting employment for its citizens.
The loan will help finance the government’s $2.3 billion counter cyclical development expenditure programme, which is intended to lessen the effects of external shocks like the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The loan is provided under ADB’s Building Resilience with Active Countercyclical Expenditures (BRACE) Program.
External shocks have hampered Pakistan’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov.Millions of Pakistanis are being impacted by growing living costs and rising business costs, particularly the weak and disadvantaged, he said.
The government will be assisted by the ADB programme in managing the effects of high prices, rising food insecurity, sluggish economic growth, and decreasing income for vulnerable groups, many of whom are still suffering from the devastation of the floods.
The finance from ADB would give the government the financial breathing room it needs to implement its countercyclical development spending programme, which is intended to help Pakistan’s poorest households, who are sometimes disproportionately impacted by crises.
The government’s assistance includes particular initiatives to advance gender empowerment and climate change adaptation, both of which have grown increasingly crucial in light of the most recent floods.
