EIB to give 100 million euros for renewable energy

ISLAMABAD: The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide 100 million euros to Pakistan to part-finance investments in the renewable energy sector in the country under an agreement signed in Luxembourg on Tuesday.
The operation will be co-financed with the Asian Development Fund (ADB) under an innovative arrangement. The leading operation is structured as a framework scheme, under which the EIB will support a series of investments in the renewable energy sector in Pakistan contributing thereby to the mitigation of climate change, one of the objectives of the European Union’s mandate for lending in Asia.
The investments will be the part of the multi-year programme to develop the renewable energy sector in Pakistan set up by the government for a total amount of $2.2 billion, says a press release of the European Union.
The programme has also the financial support of the ADB amounting to $510 million and is backed by technical assistance from ADB, the World Bank and bilateral development agencies like USAID and GTZ of Germany.
This is the EIB’s fifth lending operation in Pakistan, where it started operations in 1993, and also the third operation with the Ministry of Finance.
EIB Vice President Carlos da Silva Costa, Dr Syed Rizwan Ahmed on behalf of the government of Pakistan and ADB Resident Director-General Antonio Andrea Monari signed the lending documents.