Federal Minster for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has thanked the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for its help to revive Pakistan’s economy and to support its flood relief program.

The federal minister made these comments in a conversation with the Director General, Central and West Asia Regional Department of the ADB, Eugene Zhukov, here on Monday. Eugene Zhukov called on the Minister according to a press release received by WealthPK.

Ayaz Sadiq appreciated the timely role of ADB in providing flood-relief assistance to the country and said that “ADB was a longtime partner of Pakistan in development purposes.” He thanked the leadership of Eugene Zhukov for overseeing the approval of the relief assistance.

“BRACE program will be instrumental in the completion of government’s social protection program. Needs of the program have increased after the floods since more people are at risk of starvation and disease. Winter season is also setting in, which makes it important that clothes and blankets are provided to homeless people. Moreover, the revival of livelihoods for the affected people will also be made possible with the help of money provided by the ADB,” he said.

Ayaz Sadiq told the Director General that “government is planning to increase the outlays of social protection programs like the BISP. Moreover, allocation of funds will also be increased for food security, domestic resource mobilization, energy reforms, trade and development, and enhanced support for business entities.”

He further said that the “ministry is in coordination with other concerned ministries and with the Provincial Governments for better services. We will show you results by pushing things in a positive direction and taking action against non-performers. We will not tolerate any lapses of duty and service.”

Zhukov informed the minister about the redirecting of existing ADB portfolio to the tune of USD 475 million to an emergency assistance loan for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the flood-affected areas in Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

Zhukov said that the ADB is committed to helping Pakistan’s government in all sectors of economic development and social protection. Priority sectors among the former include clean energy, disaster risk management, climate resilience and adaptation, smart agriculture, and urban sector development.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk