The World Bank (WB) on Wednesday gave a green light to a budgetary support loan of $397 million for Pakistan. The loan will be used for the purpose of funding clean energy-related projects.
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub appreciated the approval of the loan and said that the provision of this loan is an indicator that the government has been successful in its economic reform efforts. He added, “It is clear that WB and the international community was recognizing Pakistan’s economic reforms,”.
The minister further elaborated that Pakistan has effectively completed six steps to lessen the revolving credit. He added that the government slashed the cost of power generation and made changes to improve the energy mix in order to attain the reduction in credit.
Ayub stated that the funds provided by the World Bank will also contribute towards strengthening the rupee.
Earlier in August, World Bank Director, Strategy and Operations of the South Asian Region Illango Patchamuthu said that the Bank is committed to assisting the Pakistani government in key areas and was working towards providing technical and financial support to the country in every possible way.
Ayub acknowledged the continuous efforts made by the World Bank for the purpose of supporting the socio-economic development of Pakistan. He also appreciated the institute for providing support towards key reform initiatives that have been introduced by the current government.
At the start of August this year, a world bank delegation met with Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar. During the meeting, matters pertaining to the projects in the energy sector which were funded by the World Bank were discussed.
The minister said that an additional Rs130 billion was added to the country’s circular debt during the last fiscal year while there was a reduction of Rs408 billion in the circular debt flow in comparison to last year. Azhar informed the delegation that the increase in circular debt was being curbed as a result of the government’s efforts.
