Islamabad, Nov 28 (IANS): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced that it has approved a $300 million policy-based loan targeting macroeconomic stability in Pakistan by improving trade.

The loan aims at recovering Pakistan's current account deficit in a sustained manner and continue to facilitate export diversification, Xinhua news agency quoted the ADB as sayin in a statement.

The ADB added that it will introduce tariff and tax-related policy reforms to improve Pakistan's international competitiveness and further strengthen key institutions.

The new financing falls under subprogram-2 of the Trade and Competitiveness program.

Under the first phase, the ADB helped the government usher in key reforms, including reducing or abolishing tariffs and ad hoc duties on a large number of raw materials and intermediate goods, according to the statement.

ADB's Principal Public Management Specialist Hiranya Mukhopadhyay said that while the Covid-19 pandemic hit Pakistan at a critical point in its macroeconomic recovery, the government's ongoing efforts to ensure stability have started showing encouraging results this fiscal year.