ADB lifts Pakistan commitments to $3.67bn in 2025 as focus shifts to minerals, SMEs and women-led growth

Pakistan received $3.672 billion in financial commitments from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2025, marking a 22 per cent increase from $2.995 billion in the previous year, according to the bank’s Annual Report 2025.

Of the total, ADB extended $1.485 billion in new public sector support, up about one-third from $1.113 billion in 2024, with a large share provided under ordinary capital resources on commercial terms.

The bank also mobilised around $1 billion in private sector financing through a policy-backed guarantee mechanism designed to reduce lending risk for commercial banks and expand credit access for small and medium-sized enterprises.

In a parallel push into emerging sectors, ADB approved financing for a copper-gold mining project in Pakistan, aimed at developing critical minerals supply chains and linking extraction activity with downstream industrial and manufacturing development.

Education and skills development featured prominently in the lending portfolio, including support for at least 1,700 STEM laboratories, with 50 per cent allocated to girls’ schools. The package includes a $100 million loan and a $7 million grant to strengthen science and technology education infrastructure.

ADB also committed $350 million to expand access to finance for women entrepreneurs, addressing an estimated 37 per cent financing gap for women-led businesses. The initiative is projected to benefit approximately two million women.

Separately, the bank approved an $800 million programme for Pakistan, consisting of a $300 million policy-based loan and up to $500 million in guarantees, expected to mobilise an additional $1 billion in financing amid continued fiscal constraints.

The funding strategy reflects Pakistan’s limited fiscal space for public investment, with ADB increasingly relying on blended finance and risk-sharing instruments to support development spending and private capital mobilisation.

At the macro level, ADB’s total global commitments reached $29.3 billion in 2025, a 20 per cent increase year-on-year, while private sector operations accounted for $5.5 billion, underscoring a growing emphasis on commercial capital mobilisation.

Regionally, South Asia remained the largest recipient, receiving $9.7 billion in ADB financing, ahead of Southeast Asia, Central and West Asia, East Asia, and the Pacific.

The bank also implemented institutional reforms during the year, including amendments to its charter enabling a 50 per cent expansion in lending capacity without a general capital increase. It further revised its energy policy, streamlined procurement systems, and introduced a new framework for developing critical minerals value chains linked to clean energy and digital industries.

ADB said these reforms are designed to increase financing speed and flexibility, while aligning lending priorities with structural development needs across Asia and the Pacific, including Pakistan.