ADB clears five hundred forty million dollars for Pakistan’s SOE overhaul and Sindh coastal resilience

The Asian Development Bank has approved two financing packages totalling five hundred forty million dollars for Pakistan, directing support to state-owned enterprise reform and climate resilience in Sindh, the lender said on Friday.

The bank confirmed a four hundred million dollar results-based loan for the Accelerating SOE Transformation Programme, its first such facility focused solely on public sector management reform. The operation aims to strengthen governance, improve commercial performance and advance restructuring of major state-owned entities, including the National Highway Authority.

ADB Country Director Emma Fan said recent reforms — including the SOE Act and Policy enacted in 2023, the establishment of a central monitoring unit and the rollout of public service obligation agreements — have set the foundation for deeper institutional change. The results-based programme is expected to support digitalisation, capacity building, financial sustainability and road safety improvements across the SOE portfolio.

A technical assistance grant of seven hundred fifty thousand dollars will provide expertise to aid implementation.

The bank also approved a one hundred forty million dollar concessional loan for the Sindh Coastal Resilience Sector Project, targeting the disaster-prone districts of Badin, Sujawal and Thatta. The initiative is designed to benefit more than five hundred thousand people, protect one hundred fifty thousand hectares of farmland and restore twenty two thousand hectares of forest.

The project will be implemented by the Sindh Irrigation Department and the Sindh Forest and Wildlife Department, with investments in upgraded drainage and flood protection systems, mangrove and inland forest restoration and improved monitoring and modelling capacity.

Co-financing comes from the Green Climate Fund, which is providing a twenty million dollar grant and a twenty million dollar concessional loan under the Community Resilience Partnership Programme Investment Fund administered by ADB. At least twenty five percent of project resources are earmarked for initiatives led or implemented by women.

ADB said the coastal project aligns with Pakistan’s National Flood Protection Plan IV and Sindh’s Climate Change Policy, and supports the bank’s Strategy 2030 environment and resilience priorities. It also contributes to ADB’s goal of mobilising forty billion dollars for global food systems transformation by 2030.

The Manila-based lender said the combined financing aims to reinforce public sector competitiveness, attract private investment and improve long-term resilience in a country facing governance, climate and fiscal pressures.