Pakistan and Asian Development Bank on Thursday signed a Letter of Exchange for the establishment of Pakistan National Fund for Disaster Management, a programme loan for Sustainable Energy Sector Reform Programme- Subprogramme II and two project loans of Advance Metering Infrastructure Project and New Customer Information and Billing System for Entire Company in IESCO and LESCO
The Letter of Exchange and Loan Agreements were signed by the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Secretary Tariq Bajwa and Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director Dr Werner E. Liepach. Federal Minister for Finance Senator Ishaq Dar witnessed the signing ceremony. The representatives of Japan, Belgium, Norway and Australia were also present in the ceremony.
The Pakistan National Fund for Disaster Management will be a government-led and owned long term instrument for disaster management. The Fund will facilitate the implementation priorities and objectives set out in the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) approved in 2013.
The programme loan for Sustainable Energy Sector Reform Programme- SubProgramme II, amounting to $400 million will support the implementation of the objectives of the GoP National Power Policy 2013 to develop an efficient and consumer oriented power system to meet the need of the people and economy. The operation particularly focuses on policy and institutional actions that will restore financial viability and thus reduce the burden of public financing for the energy sector. Within this overall strategic focus, the action prioritized would ensure a sustainable least cost generation mix for affordability, a transparent and predictable policy and regulatory framework to attract financial investments, protect consumers and strengthen the credit worthiness of companies in the power sector.
The project loans of Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project in Rawalpindi Circle and New Customer Information and Billing System for entire Company in IESCO amounting to $88.8 and Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project in Second and Fifth Circle and New Customer Information and Billing System for entire Company in LESCO amounting to $310.4 million will result in the reduction of power losses and will efficiently balance electric supply in the chosen area consisting of Smart Meters, Communications based on Power-line Communication (PLC), Global Packet Radio System (GPRS), Meter Date Management System (MDMS), Time Synchronization System and Customer Information System (CIS).
Speaking on the occasion, the finance minister expressed gratitude to ADB and other contributing development partners for providing vital support to Pakistan for disaster management and in the energy sector. He pledged the resolve of the Government of Pakistan to mobilize essential resources for efficient operationalisation of the Disaster Fund and to effectively deal with the energy crisis by taking practical measures and introducing a pragmatic approach.
The ADB country director assured government of Pakistan of Asian Development Bank’s support and appreciated the efforts of the government for taking practical measures to deal with natural and man-made calamities and address energy crisis in Pakistan.
Have mercy on our country O God. Ek aur Qarza ? Idhar awam par zulm kie jo rahe ho ( 40bn aur 25 bn – they want to recover to fill the gap) and another LOAN from ADB ? Don't feel a bit ashamed ? PM says " ham kashkol ko tor denge" ! Is se bari be-ghairti kya ho sakti hai ?
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