Loan will be used to support measures to develop competitive capital markets and encourage private sector investment
\nnews desk
\nislamabad
\nThe Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday approved a $300 million loan to help strengthen Pakistan\u2019s struggling finance sector.
\nThe fresh loan, according to an official of the bank, will be used to support measures to develop competitive capital markets and encourage private sector investment in the country.
\n\u201cThe reforms proposed under this programme will lower the cost of financial intermediation and facilitate private sector investment to generate sustainable growth and job opportunities,\u201d said Sana Masood, a senior project officer at the bank.
\n\u201cIt will also mitigate the negative impact of capital market instability on the economy and help to diversify Pakistan\u2019s financial system,\u201d Masood said in a statement.
\nCurrently, Pakistan\u2019s capital markets play a limited role in financial intermediation and resource mobilisation.
\nThe Pakistan Stock Exchange, she added, lacks depth in terms of the number of investors and the number of companies raising capital.
\nFewer than 250,000 individual investors, or less than 0.1 per cent of the population, she went on to say, have a stock investing account, and the PSX lags most of its regional peers on market capitalisation as a percentage of gross domestic product.
\nADB has supported the development of Pakistan\u2019s financial markets through three policy-based loans over the past two decades.
\nIslamabad and the bank have agreed to anchor the program to the design of a long-term national capital market master plan to build strong government ownership and coordination across the agencies.
\nThe bank will also provide an $800,000 technical assistance to support the implementation of key reform actions under the programme.
\nIn June, the ADB, and the World Bank each lent $500m to cash-strapped Pakistan to prop up its struggling economy that has taken a hit from global coronavirus restrictions.
\nOn May 19, the ADB approved a separate $300m emergency assistance loan to strengthen Pakistan\u2019s public health response to Covid-19 and help meet the basic needs of vulnerable and poor segments of the society.
\nEstablished in 1966, the Manila-based lending agency is owned by 68 members \u2014 49 from the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Loan will be used to support measures to develop competitive capital markets and encourage private sector investment news desk islamabad The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday approved a $300 million loan to help strengthen Pakistan\u2019s struggling finance sector. The fresh loan, according to an official of the bank, will be used to support measures […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-147215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n