Pakistan Edges Closer to $600 Million World Bank-Funded Public Finance Reform Program

The Government of Pakistan is in the process of finalizing a $600 million World Bank-backed program aimed at strengthening the country’s public finance system and enhancing the effective use of public resources. The proposal, called Pakistan Public Resources for Inclusive Development (PPRID), focuses on making revenue collection more efficient, improving expenditure transparency, and upgrading national data systems for policymaking. The programme will be jointly executed by the Finance Division, Federal Board of Revenue, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, and several ministries including Planning, Commerce, and Energy. It consists of a $560 million performance-based loan and a $40 million technical assistance component for system upgrades and capacity building. Officials note that the initiative targets long-standing weaknesses such as fragmented fiscal planning, rigid budgeting, and limited accountability mechanisms. However, technical reviewers have requested the government to revise overlapping performance indicators and submit a detailed implementation framework for the technical assistance component.