Islamabad: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a financing package of USD 554 million for the post-flood recovery in Pakistan, according to news published on December 13.
As per the details, the financial package will include new and reallocated funds for supporting the country’s effort of reconstruction and recovery after the devastating floods and strengthening climate and disaster resilience. The news source mentioned that the financing will include a USD 475 million loan and USD 3 million technical assistance grant from ADB and a USD 5 million grant from the government of Japan.
Moreover, the financing will support flood risk management, restoration of transport infrastructure in the flood-affected provinces – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan, irrigation, on-farm water management, and drainage. ADB’s Emergency Flood Assistance Project will include climate and disaster resilience measures into the design infrastructure, for which the bank has decided to provide an additional USD 71 million.
ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov stated that this project will help rebuild the infrastructure in the affected areas and restore livelihoods to the rural areas. It was disclosed that the loan will help reconstruct 400-kilometre of roads and 85-kilometre of the National Highway (N-5) and 30 bridges. With the help of the loan, the irrigation and drainage structures will be restored and upgraded. It will also help on strengthening the flood risk management structures to mitigate future risks to the communities, assets, and agricultural land.
Additionally, the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific will provide USD 5 million grant to support staple crop cultivation in Balochistan and provide 60,000 farm households with higher quality, certified rice seeds for increased productivity over 54,000 hectares. The grant will also support women’s livelihoods in agriculture by giving them farming equipment.
Iqra holds BS in International Relations and is passionate about writing engaging content on trending real estate topics. When not working, she is either spending time with family, shopping, or discussing shows & movies.
