ISLAMABAD: Director General Central and West Asia, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Werner Liepach called on Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad.

Liepach lauded the steps taken by the government of Pakistan for steering the country out of difficult economic condition towards stability. He highlighted that under the Financial Infrastructure Program, the Bank has contributed significantly towards construction of water resources, particularly the barrages in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Imran Khan appreciated the ongoing support from the Asian Development Bank in the social protection, agriculture sector, infrastructure development and towards financial efficiency in the country.

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The prime minister highlighted the efforts of the economic team of the government for putting the country’s economy on stabilization path. He said that the present government had focused its energies for the uplift of the poor segments of the population, particularly in the low cost housing sector.

He observed that there was immense scope for expansion in the existing technical support in the Ehsas flagship program, low cost housing and provision of good quality food items to the people through the Utility Stores.

Minister for EAD Muhammad Hammad Azhar, Adviser to PM Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Country Director, Pakistan Resident Mission ADB Xiaohong Yang were also present during the meeting.

On Dec 10, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had received US $1.3 billion from the ADB in connection with the policy based lending committed by the ADB to support Pakistan’s budget and energy sector reforms, said a spokesman of the central bank.

With this inflow of foreign currency, the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves have swelled to more than $10 billion.

Earlier this week, Pakistan and the ADB had signed two loan programmes amounting to US $1.3 billion.