INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday approved a $200 million loan to the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), according to a press
release issued by the Maila-based lending agency
The amount is additional financing issued by the bank for the social development project which supports more than 5 million eligible
families across the country through over $3.6 billion in total cash transfers so far.The management of the development bank has said that it
will continue to support cash transfers as well as help BISP implement institutional strengthening measures."Social protection programs like
the BISP are crucial to ensure that the poorest segments of the population do not go further into poverty," said the ADB Director of Public
Management Tariq Niazi.He added that the ADB was committed to helping the Pakistani government "implement alternative modalities for social
protection and poverty reduction The ADB official noted that these initiatives included asset transfer programmes that promote improved
human capital and reduce inter-generational poverty.According to the press release, ADB Country Director for Pakistan Xiaohong Yang also
weighed in on the loan, saying that the additional financing would support further institutional strengthening "A policy research unit will
also be established within BISP to help monitor and improve the performance of ongoing programmes and design new cost-effective and
evidence-based initiatives.""These include programmes such as poverty graduation programs and conditional cash transfers for health and
nutrition in line with global best practices," he added.TheIndianSubcontinent has not verified the content of the source
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