By Alimat Aliyeva

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $155.5m loan to Pakistan to support reforms aimed at increasing women's access to financial activities and providing subsidies to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises led by them, Azernews reports, citing international media outlets.

The loan will provide 510,000 Pakistani women with access to bank loans, including through digital channels, to obtain financial literacy and improve working conditions for women in the financial sector.

"Inclusive and sustainable development of Pakistan cannot be achieved unless women in the country have equal economic opportunities and benefits," said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Evgeny Zhukov.

The Director said that the new ADB loan will help transform Pakistan's current financial ecosystem to promote women's access to financial assets and enable them to improve their standard of living and contribute to the development of the national economy.

It is expected that $100 million of the loan amount will be used to support legal reforms aimed at this purpose in Pakistan, and $55 million for lending to women entrepreneurs.