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ADB review missions start arriving from today

IKRAMUL HAQ

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank's assistance to Pakistan during 2000 is expected to be finalised during the visit of three review mission from Manila that are expected to land on Thursday.

The programme for 2000 was discussed by a country programming mission in May last which would be reviewed and adjusted in the light of the military government's focus on decentralisation, governance, poverty reduction and performance-based programming.

An ADB source said that the Bank has adopted poverty reduction a principal area of economic development in its assistance programme. Decentralisation and governance already form part of the legal and law reforms programme loan which is being discussed with the government since 1998.

During discussion in May 1999, the programme for 2000 was estimated between $500 to $600 million which may be revised or adjusted against the government's priorities. The mission headed by Syed Marshuk Ali Shah, Chief of Country Programme Division, arrives in Islamabad on January 26 and holds discussions with the federal and provincial authorities for about two weeks.

The three delegations are the first to visit the country after military takeover. In November, an ADB mission visited Pakistan to establish contact with the new administration and analyse economic situation in the country and to find out if ADB assistance could be of any use. It promised to give its response by January.

The first mission from the ADB's Finance and Industry Department, which arrives on Thursday will review the compliance of policy for the release of $125 million second tranche of the Capital Market Development Programme loan approved in 1998.

The mission will also review the implementation performance of the Trade, Export Promotion and Industry (TEPI) programme loan whose first tranche was disbursed in March 1999.

Under the Capital Market Development Loan, the issues for compliance are the privatisation of National Investment Trust and Investment Corporation of Pakistan on which some agreement has been reached on the future shape of things.

Another issue is the establishment of a settlement agency at the stock exchanges. Another is approval of necessary legislation. The mission will be here for three days only.

The second mission, from the ADB's energy department, arrives on Friday and will discuss the government policy for the development of energy sector. The ADB had proposed along with the World Bank power-restructuring loan for assisting the KESC's for privatisation.

The mission during two weeks stay will discuss the progress on how KESC is to be privatised and its financial restructuring is undertaken.

The mission, it is learnt, would like to know the government's new policy on strategic privatisation which may exclude some profitable public sector entities.

The mission would also like to know how the government proceeds in its objective of boosting the economy through greater reliance on gas discoveries and their optimal utilisation.

During 1999, the Bank's assistance programme totalled $403 million. It was estimated that in 2000 it would be between $500 to $600 million.

The discussion with the mission from the ADB's Programme Department would work out the annual programme. In the past, the programme is prepared much before the new year turns in, but this year due to political changes and the economic sanctions still being in place, the programme could not be prepared in time.

The country programme reconfirmation mission would review the programme agreed during the May 1999 country programming mission, to ensure that the programme would be feasible and appropriate in the changed economic and political environment since then.

It would also discuss the government's announced interests and plans on decentralisation, governance, poverty reduction and performance based programming.

In addition to holding discussions with the federal government, the programme confirmation mission will visit the provinces to discuss the provincial development priorities. The new approach being devised by the bank is to discuss programmes with the provinces as national level programmes sometimes get bogged down due to different priorities of the provincial governments.