Pakistani bank ready to raise fund for IP pipeline project

The National Bank of Pakistan says it’s ready to issue bonds to raise funds for the multi-billion-dollar Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, the National Bank Senior Vice-President Adil Hussain said the state-owned bank can take part in the IP pipeline project “if the [Pakistan] central bank gives guidelines.”
Hussain said the best way to fund the project would be to launch investment bonds “to get the financing from public and private investors because the banking sector of the country is not large enough to provide finance for such a huge project.”

The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, projected to cost USD1.2-1.5 billion, would enable the export of 21.5 million cubic meters of Iranian natural gas to Pakistan on a daily basis.

Iran has already constructed more than 900 kilometers of the pipeline on its soil, while the work on the Pakistani side of the border is yet to begin.

Earlier this month, Pakistan dismissed reports that it might pull out of the project amid renewed efforts by the US to convince the country to abandon the project.

“It is a project, which is in our national interest and we are determined to pursue it,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesman, Moazzam Ahmed Khan said on December 14.