ISLAMABAD—President Asian Development Bank (ADB) Haruhiko Kuroda Tuesday said Pakistan has achieved significant progress poverty reduction which poses a big challenge for all developing states and assured the bank’s support to Pakistan in achieving the objective.
He said “Pakistan government has taken various measures to reduce poverty and improve living standard of its people and ADB is cooperating in this regard”. Speaking at a joint Press Conference along with Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Salman Shah here ADB President appreciated economic performance of Pakistan and said there is a significant improvement in the economic situation during the last five years. “ADB has constant commitment towards improvementof Pakistan’s economy and will continue to support its macro economic fundamentals and economic growth”, he added.
He said “we would continue to further strengthen our development partnership”. Asian Development bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda reaffirmed ADB’s long-term partnership to supporting Pakistan’s economic growth with an increase in assistance of $3.7 billion over the next three years. This is nearly 50 per cent increase in annual lending to Pakistan compared to the past four years.
A large portion of this assistance is earmarked for Infrastructure development in the areas of water, power, transport, and urban development, he added. In addition, ADB is planning assistance in a number of innovative areas, including support for the Karachi mega-city project, and rural modernization project to enhance livelihood opportunities.
“Pakistan has seen rapid economic progress in the last five years, which is a result of sound and pragmatic reform policies, Kuroda said. “We have been a strong supporter of the Government’s reform agenda during this period, and share the excitement over the results achieved.” The ADB President also noted the achievements in the quality of life of the citizens of Pakistan, citing reduced levels of unemployment and improvements in education and health Indicators, which indicate progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Kuroda reiterated the importance of maintaining macro economic stability and consistency in implementation of governance reforms to sustain country’s development.
“Much has been achieved under these reforms, but the momentum needs to be maintained for the reforms to have their full impact,” Kuroda said. “It is particularly critical to complete devolution programme through ensuring federal to provincial devolution, strengthening the functioning of local governments, and civil service reforms.” ADB has supported Pakistan’s core governance programmes through the Access to Justice Program and the Decentralization Support Program. ADB is also providing assistance for fiscal and financial management reforms and decentralized delivery of social services at the provincial level through the resource management and devolved social services programs.
ADB has approved over $14 billion in total assistance to Pakistan over the past three decades, and currently has an ongoing project portfolio of over $5 billion in the country, he added.