ISLAMABAD, March 5: The Asian Development Bank would offer $150 million to Pakistan in 2005 to alleviate poverty across the country.

Official sources told Dawn here on Friday that the ADB, which had earlier provided $150 million for poverty alleviation, has agreed to further extend a similar $150 million soft loan carrying only 0.7 per cent service charges.

Japan was also expected to make available sizable funds for poverty alleviation for which various details were currently being finalised. The new ADB lending will especially be provided to Khushhali Bank as part of the micro finance sector development phase-2 programme.

Sources said that the new foreign funding for reducing poverty was being offered after Pakistan got better credit rating from various international financial institutions and credit rating agencies including Moody's International and Standard and Poors'.

The number of Khushhali Bank clients, sources said, will reach to over 200,000 by the end of 2004 as its lending operations have reached to 42 districts of the country.

So far the Bank has disbursed micro credit worth Rs2 billion and the year 2005 will witness further expansion in the Khushhali Bank's lending programme for which it was receiving sizeable foreign funding including from the USAID programme, sources added.