The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has released the first installment of its new loan of $400 million to Pakistan to help rebuild hundreds of thousands of homes lost in the October 2005 earthquake, officials said. The ADB is committed to helping the Government of Pakistan to ensure that the coming winter is the last one in temporary shelter for many people displaced by the devastating earthquake. The concessional loan, approved by the ADB Board of Directors in June, is part of ADB's $1billion commitment of loans and grants to assist Pakistan in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of earthquake-affected areas. It is being released in two installments of 200 million dollars each. The second installment will be released in six months on completion of performance targets jointly agreed on by the Pakistan government and ADB. The loan is intended to help the Pakistani government to meet its deadline of May 2008 for completing the reconstruction of 585,000 rural homes, compliant with seismic safety requirements. Attached to the loan is a 2-million-dollar grant to train Pakistani institutions working in quake-affected areas in seismic construction, to strengthen financial and strategic management, and to support environmental and social protection.
