Pakistan, Myanmar power projects: China-led AIIB approves $320 million in loans

The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved loans totalling $320 million to energy projects aiming to ease severe power shortages in Myanmar and Pakistan, the bank said on Thursday. A $300-million loan will fund expansion of a hydropower project in Pakistan, co-financed with the World Bank, and a loan of $20 million went to a power plant in Myanmar co-financed with other lenders, the bank said in a statement.
"With the approval of two new projects, we are well on our way to meeting our target to extend financing of $1.2 billion in 2016," said President Jin Liqun, adding that the move met a core mandate of backing green and cost-effective infrastructure. The bank has previously co-financed projects such as a slum renovation in Indonesia and highway construction in Pakistan and Tajikistan. Crisis-hit Mongolia plans to pitch a number of railway projects to the AIIB as it steps up efforts to attract investment and boost trade, Reuters reported this month.