Country Partnership Strategy 2009-13: ADB announces $4.4 billion support for Pakistan

[LahoreEstate]

ISLAMABAD: Asian Development Bank (ADB) here on Wednesday announced $4.4 billion Country Partnership Strategy 2009-13 to support Pakistan’s efforts to produce sustained economic growth and reduce poverty.

Financial assistance for Diamer Basha dam and National Trade Corridor Programmeme would be over and above the assistance of $4.4 billion to be made available to Pakistan under CPS 2009-13.

Rune Stroem, Country Director of ADB Pakistan, and Safdar Parvez, country economist in a media briefing outlined the strategic priorities agreed between Pakistan and ADB in five-year plan.

Rune Stroem said that ADB and GoP have designed a major new strategic partnership aimed at promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth through structural reforms and investment in energy and infrastructure sectors. He informed that the proposed lending programme over the initial CPS period 2009-11 totals at $4.4 billion constituting an annual average lending of about $1.5 billion with technical assistance at $2.4 million per year.

The main strategic areas under future CPS have been identified as development of energy, Infrastructure, reforms, urban services. Investments to increase energy security and efficiency, investments to improve transport mainly the National Trade Corridor Programme and irrigation facilities, assistance to bring down market distortions and institutional bottlenecks, improve public financial resource management, develop the private sector and bring about structural transformation. Under the urban services, pivotal interventions in cities and secondary towns to be made to improve basic services such as water, wastewater, wastewater management and urban transport facilities, he explained.

The objective of the CPS is to support Pakistan’s efforts to achieve sustained economic growth and reduce poverty. To catalyse structural change and transformation that is vital to guaranteeing Pakistan’s long-term economic and social development. ADB’s support is geared to helping consolidating the growth and reduction in poverty gains in recent years and prevent reversal in reforms, Safdar Parvez, Country Economist ADB explained.

“The CPS will support Pakistan’s fight against poverty and its pursuit of prosperity by tackling binding constraints to inclusive economic growth.”

“Supporting the government’s reform agenda and improving the energy, transport, and urban infrastructure will help reduce the cost of doing business and strengthen the underlying competitiveness of the economy.”

The CPS outlines a second generation of economic reforms aimed at reducing distortions, accelerating market creation, eliminating governance and institutional bottlenecks, and strengthening public financial management reform. These reforms will help enhance private sector investment, support diversification of the economy, create jobs, and improve the efficiency of government functioning, added Rune Stroem.

In a country where crippling power outages increase the cost and challenges of doing business, the CPS aims to strengthen Pakistan’s energy supply chain. Measures include augmenting and expanding transmission stations and lines, strengthening distribution companies, and developing power generation facilities using renewable sources. These and other improvements aim to contribute to reducing electricity outages by a further 30 percent by 2012 and increasing the number of grid-connected electricity consumers from 60 percent in 2008 to 70 percent by 2013.

Pakistan’s transport infrastructure is another area of the CPS’s strategic focus. Financial and technical assistance will be supplied to improve connectivity along the National Trade Corridor and other major highways. This will enable export firms to be more competitive by reducing transportation costs and travel time.

Improving the quality of lives of citizens in cities and towns receives a major emphasis in the CPS. Strengthening water supply and sanitation services and urban transportation systems will not only lead to enhanced economic competitiveness but will also yield health and environment improvement dividends for the benefit of urban citizens.

Pakistan has received about $19.8 billion in loans since joining ADB in 1966, with about $14 billion disbursed as of the end of 2008. The lending programme in 2008 was a record that included $1.87 billion disbursement and $1.2 billion in newly approved assistance.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg5_4