ISLAMABAD
\nFinance Minister Ishaq Dar says Asian Development Bank\u2019s Board has approved BRACE facility of 1.5 billion dollars for Pakistan. In a tweet on Friday, the Finance Minister said agreement signing and release of funds will take place next week.
\nIshaq Dar has welcomed the announcement by ADB to provide Pakistan $1.5 billion under the BRACE program. He said the funds will be transferred to Islamabad in the week starting October 24.
\n\u201cAlhamdoLilah! Asian Development Bank\u2019s Board has approved today BRACE facility of US Dollars 1.5 Billion for Pakistan. Agreement signing and release of funds in the week beginning Monday 24th Oct 2022,\u201d Dar tweeted.
\nEarlier on Friday, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday approved $1.5 billion for Pakistan in financial help for social protection, promotion of food security, and support employment for its people amid devastating floods and global supply chain disruptions.
\nThe funding, which will be a loan, has been provided under ADB\u2019s Building Resilience with Active Countercyclical Expenditures (BRACE) Program, the bank announced in a statement on Friday.
\nThe $1.5 billion approved will go towards the government\u2019s $2.3 billion countercyclical development expenditure program which is designed to help soften the impacts of external economic shocks, especially those arising from Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine \u2013 i.e. help bear food security and energy crisis.
\n\u201cPakistan\u2019s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has been impeded by external shocks,\u201d said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov. \u201cIncreasing business costs and rising living expenses are affecting millions of Pakistanis, especially the poor and vulnerable,\u201d Zhukov said.
\nThe financing will provide the government fiscal space needed to implement a development expenditure package that would prevent it from falling into debt traps and poverty due to the disproportionate impact of inflation and resource shortage.
\nThe fund will allow the federal government expand the number of poor and destitute families receiving cash transfers from 7.9 million to 9 million, increase the number of children enrolled in primary and secondary schools, and enhance geographic coverage of health services and nutritional supplies for pregnant and lactating mothers and children under 2 years old.
\nMoreover, it will allow the government to promote gender empowerment and climate change adaptation, which have become even more vital in light of the recent floods. \u201cThe program is part of a comprehensive and well-coordinated package of support.
\n It will help the government deal with the impact of the immediate shocks to the economy, while, in parallel, continue the structural reforms that are necessary to improve the country\u2019s medium- to long-term macroeconomic prospects,\u201d said ADB Director for Public Management, Financial Sector, and Trade Tariq Niazi.
\nThe bank added , \u201cWe are working closely with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other development partners to ensure that our support through policy dialogue, technical assistance, and program lending is well-coordinated and that, ultimately, we are able to help the government improve Pakistan\u2019s resilience to shocks.\u201d
\nADB\u2019s $1.5 billion countercyclical support is part of a response package to support people, their livelihoods, and infrastructure in Pakistan that is damaged in the recent floods which have affected over 33 million people and caused extensive damage to infrastructure and agriculture.<\/p>\n
Dar welcomes fund. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Finance Minister Ishaq Dar says Asian Development Bank\u2019s Board has approved BRACE facility of 1.5 billion dollars for Pakistan. In a tweet on Friday, the Finance Minister said agreement signing and release of funds will take place next week. Ishaq Dar has welcomed the announcement by ADB to provide Pakistan $1.5 billion under the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1925],"class_list":{"0":"post-290793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-ishaq-dar"},"yoast_head":"\n