World Bank cancels $100m loan to Pak

Islamabad, December 7

The World Bank has cancelled a $100 million loan approved for a natural gas efficiency project, citing a lack of interest on the part of a Pakistani gas distribution company. 

The project, which was to be carried out by Sui Southern Gas Company in its distribution areas in Karachi, interior Sindh and Balochistan, was aimed at enhancing the supply of natural gas by reducing physical and commercial losses of gas in the pipeline system, Dawn reported. 

A World Bank report said the failure of the project led to its closure and, as a result, the levels of unaccounted-for gas  (UFG) remained high while continuing to drain the precious natural resource.  Illegal connections, one of the drivers of UFG, were increasing at a rate faster than the countervailing reduction of technical losses. — IANS