Islamabad, August 21:

Pakistan is to get an Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan of $25 million for infrastructure development projects. This is in addition to the $2 billion the World Bank has offered Pakistan for similar projects. The ADB loan will “help create an environment for infrastructure investments to attract public and private participation, as well as bilateral and multilateral agencies,” The News today quoted a bank statement issued in Manila as saying. The projects will help the government develop its electricity, transportation and water sectors in an integrated manner.

The loan will be accompanied by a $150,000 technical assistance grant “to identify constraints

on investment (in infrastructure) and implement solutions to remove them”, the ADB statement said. The loan will be provided through the ADB’s concessional Asian Development Fund and will carry a 32-year term, including a grace period of eight years. The World Bank offer was discussed at a meeting here this week presided over by prime minister Shaukat Aziz.