ISLAMABAD-Secretary Planning Syed Zafar Ali Shah has said that Asian Development Bank (ADB) has shown renewed interest in Karachi-Peshawar Railways (ML-I) project, however, Pakistan is still pursuing the Chinese option. Pakistan is expecting that of the total pledged $10.9 billion for the flood reconstruction, major chunk will go to Sindh, followed by Balochistan, Punjab,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and special areas, respectively, Secretary Planning Syed Zafar Ali Shah said while talking to a selected group of Journalists.
The secretary further said that the donors’ funds for the flood reconstruction will not be distributed on the basis of National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, instead the disbursement will be based on needs of the provinces.
Pakistan is expected to get $1b to $ 1.5b during the ongoing fiscal year, he said. Zafar Ali Shah said that Pakistan got $10.92b pledges from the Geneva conference held last month for the flood-affected people. Pakistan had prepared a Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Framework 4RF framework based on Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA). The funds are coming from 13 different sources and it has been envisaged that Pakistan will get the pledged funds within next three years, Secretary Planning added.
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He said that the government is expecting $ 2.63b during the first year, which includes $1.7b from the World Bank, $500 to $600m from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the remaining from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
He said that the government has already approved flood related projects worth $3b in the provinces. He said that Pakistan has already repurposed and spent $300 million for the flood affected areas.
As per the PDNA documents, Sindh will get $8b, Balochistan $2.5b, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will get $750 million each, while the special regions will get $48 million, he added. This amount will be spent on housing and other infrastructure activities in the flood affected areas.
He said out of the total assessment of $16b, half will be provided by the federal and provincial governments. He said that according to Balochistan estimates, the province will require $155 million for the reconstruction/repair of the houses damaged by the floods. Similarly, Sindh has estimated the reconstruction/repair cost of the houses at $450 million, the secretary added. However, he said that 3rd party validation of the flood related projects is mandatory.
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He said that the pledge amount of $4.2b from the Islamic Development Bank includes $3.6b for commodity support, while $600 million is for project financing.
Secretary said that to restore the infrastructure of the Pakistan Railways, damaged by the floods, the first phase of Karachi-Peshawar Railways (ML-I) project will also be initiated during the ongoing rehabilitation drive. The first phase will cost $3b, he said. The total cost of the ML-I project is approximately $10b and it will take eight to nine years to complete, the secretary added. The secretary informed that previously ADB was interested in ML-I and once again it has shown interest in the project. However, Pakistan is still pursuing the Chinese option, he added. Regarding the proposed cut in the current fiscal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), the secretary said that as of today no decision regarding imposition of cut on the development expenditure has been made. He said that an authorization of Rs 372b of PSDP 2022-23 has been issued by the Planning Commission till February 08. Of the total authorization Rs 312b is from local component, while Rs 60b is foreign exchange component. Similarly, he said that that utilization was Rs 207b, which included Rs 147b of local component, while Rs 60b was foreign exchange component.
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The Nation, 09 Feb, 2023