ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday announced its new ‘Country Operations Business Plan for Pakistan’ covering 2019-21, under which resources would be available for sovereign lending programme amounting to $7,528 million.

These resources will be available during the three year period in energy, transport, agriculture, natural resources and rural development, water and other urban infrastructure and services, according to the business plan document.

Besides the new plan, ADB on Thursday signed a loan agreement with the government, worth $284m to improve the country’s power transmission network.

The Manila-based lending agency says while the new government is in the process of establishing its development priorities, it is in close dialogue with the government.

Going forward, the bank proposed assistance pipeline for Pakistan may need to be further adjusted, particularly for 2020 and 2021. The new plan is aligned with the ADB’s country partnership strategy which is completing in 2019 and the ‘Vision-2025’.

The indicative resources available during this period for sovereign operations amount to $5,712.1m, comprising $4,290.0 for regular ordinary capital resources lending and $1,422 for concessional lending.

The final allocation will depend on available resources, project readiness, project performance and debt distress rating of the country among others.

The concessional lending includes a carryover of $600m from 2018. The non-lending programme for 2019-21 is $21.7m, including transaction technical assistance for various pipeline projects.

The bank’s non-sovereign operations will supplement these resources. The bank will also explore co-financing from other sources and seek financing from the regional pool under concessional resources and regular OCR for regional cooperation and integration.

In the agriculture, natural resources, and rural development sector, the ADB has allocated $794m in loan financing. The pipeline includes the Greater Thal Canal Irrigation project, and the Smaller Cholistan Water Resources Development project.

In the area of water and other urban infrastructure and services, the bank has allocated $470m in loan financing. The pipeline includes a cross-sector project readiness facility for Punjab and the Punjab Cities Improvement project.

In finance and public sector management, the lender has allocated $2,400m in loan financing to the finance and public sector management sectors. The new business plan includes new projects which are: trade and competitiveness programme in 2019; financial markets development in 2020; infrastructure financing and PPPs in 2021; as well as the second phase of support for the Benazir Income Support Programme in 2020.

The education and health sectors’ pipeline includes $225m in loan financing.

The bank’s re-engagement in education and health sectors includes $175m for projects on secondary education in Sindh and improving workforce readiness and skills development in Punjab, and $50m project to improve quality of health care services in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The bank will also provide technical assistance across sectors to help project implementation and to generate and disseminate knowledge products to support policy and project development, as well as to enhance project quality and readiness.

The agreement for $284m is the third tranche of a multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) under the ADB-supported second power transmission investment programme.

The MFF aims to develop a stronger, smarter, greener, and more climate resilient power transmission system in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2018