After being burdened by the debt of domestic banks, the Punjab government has now turned to foreign banks for loans.
The Punjab government will take a loan of more than 22 trillion rupees from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank (AIDB) to cover the road projects under the Sustainable Development Program (SDP).
With the foreign loans, the Punjab government has made plans to construct some new roads and repair the existing road throughout the province including the New Lahore project.
In order to provide the better road infrastructure to the citizens in Punjab, the provincial government has taken this decision and formed a committee for the agreement and negotiations with the said banks. As per the details of the loans, the ADB will give a loan of $503 million to the Punjab government on soft terms while Punjab will also receive $394 million from the AIDB.
The Punjab government’s committee will comprise of Secretary Planning and Development (P&D), Secretary Communication and Works (C&W), and Secretary Finance and other officials. The officials of the Department of Communication informed that with this loan, the Punjab government will provide the best roads to the citizens in the province.
According to the authorities, an agreement will be signed with both banks soon to obtain the loan, in which the repayment of the loan under easy terms will also be reviewed. It is worth mentioning here that the ADB was the top lending bank in Punjab.—NNI
