MANILA, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's power sector, which is fighting to cope with growing demand, is getting a boost from a multi-tranche financing facility that worths 810 million U.S. dollars from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Manila-based bank said Friday.

    The funds, to be released in several tranches over 10 years, will support Pakistan's Power Distribution Enhancement Investment Program for 2008-2017 which is estimated at 5.2 billion U.S. dollars, ADB said in a press release.

    Pakistan's national power grid is currently short of generating capacity and is suffering from insufficiently maintained transmission and distribution systems that result in supply interruptions to customers. System losses from distribution companies range from 33 percent to 10 percent, above international best practice.

    ADB said its funding will support the government's ongoing power sector reform program that is designed to provide a safe, reliable supply of power and to meet an estimated annual 8 percent rise in GDP growth from 2005-2015, and to expand power coverage in rural areas.

    The program will ensure timely subsidy payment by the government to the distribution companies. It also aims to improve financial management and corporate governance standards in distribution companies that should help attract more private firms to invest in the sector, ADB said.