ISLAMABAD (APP) - The Asian Development Bank is providing a US $205 million loan and grant package to help increase access to quality social services in Balochistan province.
The programme will support policy reforms to address long-standing issues in education, health and water supply and sanitation. It will also help the province’s local governments fulfill their devolved roles and responsibilities in social service delivery.
The program aims to improve access to and quality of social services, and will empower citizens and enable the private sector to play a greater role in social service delivery, according to an ADB press release issued here Friday. A $130 million loan from ADB’s ordinary capital resources (OCR) will finance policy reforms to improve the funding, management, and quality of social services; the managerial power of local governments; and the involvement of citizens and the private sector in social service delivery.
A $65 million loan from ADB’s concessional Asian Development Fund (ADF) will help increase funding for social services by providing performance grants to eligible district and municipal governments.
These grants target priority investments and are designed to enable local governments to identify service gaps and flexibly respond to local needs.
An additional $5 million Technical Assistance (TA) loan from the ADF will support the program’s implementation, as well as help develop governance in the social services and strengthen sector management.
Another $5 million grant from the ADF will specifically help address the province’s public health challenges, such as the high morbidity and mortality from malaria and tuberculosis, preventing the spread of HIV/ AIDS and reducing vaccine-preventable diseases among children.
programme is ADB’s first for the social sectors in Balochistan, and follows loans that strengthened the province’s local governments and resource management. The OCR loan carries a 15-year term, including a grace period of three years and an interest rate determined in accordance with ADB’s LIBOR-based lending facility. The $65 million ADF loan carries a 24-year term, while the $5 million TA loan from the ADF carries a 32-year term.
Both include a grace period of 8 years and carry interest rate charges of one per cent per annum during the grace period and 1.5 per cent thereafter.
The government of Balochistan will contribute $1.25 million equivalent towards the total cost of the TA project.
The Balochistan Planning and Development Department is the executing agency for the programme, which will be carried out up to about June 2009, and the TA project, due for completion in December 2010.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region through pro-poor sustainable economic growth, social development, and good governance.
Established in 1966, it is owned by 64 members - 46 from the region. In 2004, it approved loans and technical assistance totalling $5.3 billion and $196.6 million, respectively.
http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/dec-2005/10/bnews7.php |
