The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday announced its plans to invest $2 billion in the energy sector over the next three years. The announcement was made after an ADB team lead by Director General for Central and West Asia Department Werner Liepach met with Federal Minister for Power Omar Ayub Khan and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar in Islamabad. ADB’s Country Director Pakistan Xiaohong Yang was also present during the meeting. According to a statement released by the Power Division, “ADB remains [Pakistan’s] top energy sector partner with $2.1 billion portfolio with $300 million released this week for sector reform including addressing the circular debt.” During the meeting, projects funded by ADB in the energy sector were discussed and it was decided that a “comprehensive review meeting” be held at the end of the month between the Power Division and ADB “to steer the projects to their logical culmination”. Both sides also agreed to “maximum transparency” during the execution of the projects, according to the press release. The ADB also showed an interest in “facilitating technical studies for the gas storage facility in Pakistan”. “During a later stage, the ADB can also consider financing the project,” said Liepach. The ADB team was briefed regarding a ‘New Renewable Energy Policy’ which will be put before the Council of Common Interest (CCI) in its scheduled meeting by the end of this month. “The team was briefed regarding various steps taken by the Power Division to boost the efficiency of the system and campaign against power theft,” said the Power Division’s statement. The ADB was informed that in pursuing the circular debt capping plan, the Power Division had brought about a “considerable reduction in its growth from Rs39bn to Rs12bn per month”. “The ADB team expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by the Power Division and termed the efforts positive for the sector’s growth,” the statement concluded by saying. Meanwhile, the ADB said it expects stabilisation of Pakistan’s economy in current fiscal year while predicting slower growth than expected for developing nations of Asia. In its Asian Development Outlook Supplement, the Manila-based lender assesses slower growth in Asia this year and next, citing weakening domestic investment due to external factors such as the U.S.-China trade war for its 5.2 percent expansion forecast. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has revised its initial growth forecast of 5.7 percent for 2019 and 5.6 percent for 2020, which it subsequently trimmed down last September to 5.4 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively, for developing Asia, an ADB region that groups 45 member economies that include China and India. The report said China’s economic growth is projected to slow to 6.1 percent this year, and 5.8 percent in 2020, from actual growth of 6.6 percent in 2018. The report expects stabilization in Pakistan’s economy this year. India’s growth forecast is also reduced to 5.1 percent for this year, from the earlier projection of 6.5 percent last September. “Also, consumption was affected by slow job growth and rural distress aggravated by poor harvest. Policy support will help growth recover to 6.5 percent in 2020,” it added. “The main risks to the outlook are a surprisingly abrupt slump in domestic consumption and any worsening of the global growth slowdown or trade tensions,” the report said about Japan. Inflation in developing Asia, meanwhile, is projected to go up to 2.8 percent this year, and 3.1 percent next year, from the September forecast of 2.7 percent this year and next. The inflation rate in Pakistan in first quarter of the current fiscal year remained at 10 percent.