At COP27, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) signed a USD500-million loan agreement with the government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to support the Building Resilience with Countercyclical Expenditures (BRACE) Program.

By creating fiscal space for crucial health and social sector spending, BRACE will strengthen Pakistan’s macroeconomic management and support a more sustained and inclusive growth. BRACE is also supporting Pakistan’ response to and recovery from the adverse impacts of the combined exogenous shocks including supply chain disruptions, soaring energy prices and climate-induced devastating floods.

AIIB’s financing for BRACE was approved under the Bank’s COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility (CRF). The program will provide critical countercyclical financing support to Pakistan to implement priority measures to build the resilience of vulnerable groups, strengthen social protection, increase food security and support economic revitalization.

“It is essential that we proactively and flexibly address our Members’ urgent needs in the face of multiple challenges,” said Konstantin Limitovskiy, AIIB Vice President for Investment Operations (Region 2). “We look forward to enhancing our partnership with Pakistan and collaborating with global partners to significantly increase our support to help Members’ efforts in achieving a green, resilient and inclusive recovery. AIIB is dedicated to promoting regional cooperation in addressing development challenges in an integrated way.”

As of this writing, AIIB has approved 9 projects totaling USD2.21 billion for Pakistan, covering economic resilience and the energy, water and transport sectors. This support to the BRACE Program is the third loan approved under AIIB’s CRF to Pakistan, boosting the total amount under the CRF to USD1.25 billion.

About AIIB

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank whose mission is financing the Infrastructure for Tomorrow—infrastructure with sustainability at its core. We began operations in Beijing in January 2016 and have since grown to 105 approved members worldwide. We are capitalized at USD100 billion and Triple-A-rated by the major international credit rating agencies. Collaborating with partners, AIIB meets clients’ needs by unlocking new capital and investing in infrastructure that is green, technology-enabled and promotes regional connectivity.