LAHORE: The Bank of Punjab (BoP) has arranged a long-term on-lending facility of $54.2m for green banking from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the French state development finance agency.

This credit facility is intended for onward lending to climate adaptation and mitigation projects and activities in Pakistan. In addition to the credit facility, the AFD is also providing BoP with a grant facility of EUR 675,000 to support a technical assistance programme.

The agreement was executed by Cyrille Bellier, AFD director for Europe, Middle East & Asia, and Umer Khan, the BoP head of investment banking, says a press release.

This concessional credit facility marks the first-ever foreign currency (FCY) facility arranged by any commercial bank specifically tied to climate financing in Pakistan.