Pakistan receives $1.2bn from Asian Development Bank

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday has received $1.2 billion from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under the budget support fund.

SBP on its official twitter handle confirmed the transfer of the loan amount to Pakistan.

READ MORE: Pakistan, ADB sign loan agreement worth USD 1.3 billion

#SBP receives #USD 1.2 bn from #AsianDevelopmentBank | @ADB_HQ #Pakistan

— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) December 9, 2019

The ADB has reaffirmed its commitment to continue supporting Pakistan on economic front.

Yesterday, Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had signed a loan agreement of $1.2 billion in Islamabad.

The agreement was finalised in the present of Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar in the federal capital.

READ ALSO: ADB signs $200mn loan for budgetary support in Pakistan

According to the agreement, the fresh loan will focus strengthening country’s foreign reserves and improvement in the energy sector.

Pakistan is facing significant economic challenges on the back of a large balance of payments gap and critically low foreign exchange reserves together with weak and unbalanced growth.

While the country’s economy has a history of boom and busts economic cycles, it reached a tipping point in 2018.

READ MORE: ADB predicts Pakistan’s economic growth at 2.8% in 2020

After foreign investment shrank sharply in an uncertain political and global economic environment and the ongoing poor performance of state-owned enterprises caused public debt to reach unsustainable levels.