ADB okays $1.5bn in financing for social protection, food security in Pakistan

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday approved $1.5 billion in financing to help the government provide “social protection, promote food security and support employment” amid catastrophic flooding and global supply chain disruptions. According to the statement issued by the ADB, the loan has been provided under the bank’s Building Resilience with Active Countercyclical Expenditures (BRACE) Programme. It will help fund the government’s $2.3bn countercyclical development expenditure programme that is structured to cushion the impacts of external shocks, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the statement said. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also took to Twitter to announce the development, stating that the “agreement signing and release of funds” would take place next week.