Karachi: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has received USD 500 million from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to support development initiatives in the country, news sources reported on November 29.
The news was shared by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on his Twitter account. The minister said that ‘AIIB has transferred today, as per their board’s approval, to State Bank of Pakistan/Government of Pakistan $500 million as programme financing,’.
The funding is part of the ADB-initiated Building Resilience with Active Countercyclical Expenditures (BRACE) Programme aimed to counter the social fallouts of economic crisis. Under the programme, Pakistan is to receive USD 1.5 billion loan for budgetary support and help flood-related rehabilitation and reconstruction activities. The BRACE programme is an allocated USD 2.3 billion programme to countercyclical development expenditure programme designed to cushion the impacts of external shocks.
It is vital to highlight that the country’s FOREX reserves are under pressure as a result of the increasing Current Account Deficit (CAD) due to high fuel imports. The government has asked international organisations and lenders to restructure the existing loan arrangement to ease payment and minimise strain on reserves.
Nauman Ahmad is an imaginative Pisces whose love for literature and nature is unparalleled. When he's not reading or hiking, he's sleeping and eating, which gives him plenty of energy for his next adventure.
