PRESS RELEASE

Mr. Eugene Zhukov, Director General Central and West Asia Regional Department, Asian Development Bank (ADB) calls on the Federal Minster for Economic Affairs, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in his office today.

Minister for Economic Affairs extended gratitude to Mr. Eugene Zhukov for his leadership and support to Pakistan especially for recent floods disaster. He appreciated the ADB’s generous and timely financial assistance for the flood 2022 in the form of a USD 3 Million grant as well as approval of the USD 1.5 Billion Building Resilience with Active Countercyclical Expenditures (BRACE) Program. Minster for Economic Affairs further underscored that the BRACE Program will mitigate the adverse impact of the cumulative exogenous shocks especially to the poor and vulnerable caused by the unprecedented rains and flash floods.

The Director General apprised the Minister for Economic Affairs about repurposing of a existing ADB portfolio to the tune of US$ 475 Million for an emergency assistance loan for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the flood affected areas in Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Mr. Zhukov also appreciated the regular meetings of National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Foreign Funded Projects conducted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs which is helping pushing forward the delayed projects. Mr. Zhukov also highlighted the ADB’s support for Government’s priority sectors which include; Renewable Energy, Disaster Management and Climate Resilience, Smart Agriculture, Urban Sector Development and Social Services which was appreciated by the Minister.

The Minister for Economic Affairs assured the Director General that the Government is committed to prioritize and increase funding for key economic sectors including; social protection (to BISP), food security, domestic resource mobilization, energy reforms, trade and development, and enhanced support for business entities. He further assured that the Ministry is in consultation with the other concerned Ministries and with the Provincial Governments for better coordination. “We will show you performance by pushing things positively and taking actions against non-performance” said Minister for Economic Affairs.