Earthquake loan

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$ 400 million loan to the government of Pakistan to help rebuild homes destroyed in the October 2005 earthquake. It is part of ADB's US$ 1 billion commitment of loans and grants to assist Pakistan in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of earthquake-affected areas.

An ADB statement added that the money is being released in two batches of US$ 200 million each. the first batch was transferred in July to reimburse part of the government's US$ 622 million expenditure on housing reconstruction.

The second batch of US$ 200 million will be released in six months, on completion of performance targets jointly agreed on by the Pakistani government and ADB.

It added that the loan is intended to help the government of Pakistan meet its deadline of May 2008 for completing the reconstruction of around 590000 rural homes, compliant with seismic safety requirements.

A US$ 2 million grant to train Pakistani institutions working in quake-affected areas in seismic construction is part of the loan package to strengthen financial and strategic management, and to support environmental and social protection, the ADB statement said.