Islamabad: Pakistan said on Wednesday that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to invest USD 2 billion in the energy sector in the country during the next three years.
The announcement was made after an ADB team headed by Director General for Central and West Asia Department Werner Liepach met with Power Minister Omar Ayub Khan and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar here.
The ADB’s Country Director Pakistan, Xiaohong Yang, was also present during the meeting.
‘ADB remains top energy sector partner with USD 2.1 Billion portfolio with USD 300 million released this week for sector reform including addressing the circular debt,’ according to an official statement by Pakistan.
It said that the meeting took stock of ADB funded projects in the energy sector and it was decided that a comprehensive portfolio review meeting will be held by the end of this month between Power Division of Pakistan and ADB to steer the projects to their logical culmination.
It was also agreed that all efforts by both side will be made to ensure maximum transparency during the execution of projects, the statement said.
During the meeting, the ADB showed interest in facilitating technical studies for the gas storage facility in Pakistan. ‘During later part the ADB can also consider financing the project,’ Liepach said.
The ADB team was apprised of approval of New Renewable Energy Policy which will be placed before Council of Common Interest (CCI) in its scheduled meeting by the end of this month.
The team was also briefed regarding various steps taken by the Power Division to boost the efficiency of the system and campaign against power theft.
The circular debt capping plan is also being variously perused and implemented by the Power Division resulting in considerable reduction in its growth from Rs.39 Billion a month to Rs. 12 Billion per month.
Source: PTI
