ISLAMABAD, March 11: The Asian Development Bank will provide $4.4 billion under its Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for energy, infrastructure, urban services and institutional reforms projects.

The bank has also sought the feasibility report of the proposed Diamer-Bhasha dam for evaluation and possible financing. The project is estimated to cost $12.6 billion.

Under the CPS, the ADB will lend $1.5 billion a year to Pakistan, besides providing $2.4 billion in technical assistance.

The bank is also learnt to have started hiring local consultants after foreign experts refused to visit a number of areas because of security concerns.

“Pakistan needs electricity supply 24/7,” said ADB’s Country Director Rune Stroem, when asked at a press conference here on Wednesday how he thought the country could achieve macroeconomic targets and sustain growth.

The bank has also reduced the number of projects it is funding to 44 from 62.

Mr Stroem and ADB’s country economist Safdar Parvez said the amount of money saved by stopping funding for projects with weak implementation would mostly be used for funding other projects.

Mr Parvez also spoke about the “boom and bust cycle” of Pakistan’s economy, with average growth of five per cent over several years often creating a balance of payment crisis because of structural bottlenecks.

Such bottlenecks, he said, could be removed through economic reforms outlined by the bank for reducing distortions, accelerating market creation, eliminating governance and institutional bottlenecks, and strengthening public financial reforms.

The ADB will also make investment to improve transport (mainly via the National Trade Corridor programme) and irrigation facilities.

It will also seek to improve basic services like water, waste management and urban transport.

The CPS, besides strengthening the energy supply chain, would augment and expand transmission system and distribution companies and develop power generation facilities using renewable sources.

It is aiming to reducing electricity outages by 30 per cent by 2012 and increasing the number of grid-connected electricity consumers from 60 per cent in 2008 to 70 per cent by 2013.

Financial and technical assistance will be provided to improve connectivity along the National Trade Corridor and other major highways.

According to CPS projections, travel time between Peshawar and Karachi will be halved to 36 hours by 2017 from the 2006 time of 72 hours.
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