ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Monday signed a $196.9 million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for post-flood national highways rehabilitation project.

The total estimated cost of the project is $218.8 million, out of which the ADB will provide $196.9 million. Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Secretary Tariq Bajwa and ADB Country Director Werner E Liepach signed the loan agreement. The project will contribute to the economic recovery of flood-affected areas in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh provinces.

It will restore critical physical infrastructure to sustain livelihoods and access to markets as well as build post-disaster traffic management capacity of the National Highways Authority (NHA). Under the project, the NHA will rehabilitate 212 kilometer roads and 33 bridges. The project will be completed in three years.

Speaking on the occasion, Bajwa expressed gratitude to the ADB for providing vital support for infrastructure building in Pakistan.

He assured the commitment of the government to mobilise all efforts for taking measures to improve the physical infrastructure.  He said an efficient and rapid highways network provides economic benefits that result in multiplier effects such as better accessibility to markets, employment and additional investments, he added.

This is even more so in a global economy where economic opportunities have been increasingly related to the mobility of people, goods and information, he added. Liepach assured of ADB's continued support and appreciated the government of Pakistan's efforts for investing in infrastructure.