The Asian Development Bank (ADB) would provide a loan of $3.4 billion to Pakistan for budgetary support, a Minister has confirmed. The announcement was made by federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Khusro Bakhtiar at a press conference on Saturday, adding that an agreement had been reached between the Asian Development Bank and the Finance Ministry in this regard, Dawn news reported on Sunday.

Of the total amount, $2.1 billion would be released within a year of the agreement, Bakhtiar said.

When asked to explain the terms of the loan, the Minister only said it was “on a concessional rate”.

Later in the day, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh took to Twitter to confirm the development.

“The Asian Development Bankwill provide $3.4 billion in budgetary support,” he said in his tweet.

“$2.2 billion will be released this fiscal year (FY), starting in the first quarter of FY 2019-20. This will help the reserve position and the external account.”

Earlier this week, the Imran Khan-led government unveiled a 7,022 billion Pakistani rupees austerity budget for the fiscal year 2019-20, setting ambitious tax collection targets to stabilise a faltering economy, reports Geo News. The government is seeking help to overcome a ballooning balance of payments crisis.  Last month, it reached an accord in principle with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a three-year, $6 billion bailout package aimed at shoring up its finances and strengthening a slowing economy.

Indo-Asian News Service