The World Bank has approved $722 million loan for Pakistan that will largely be used for improving civic and public transport facilities in Karachi – the largest metropolis that needs nearly $10 billion additional investment to make it liveable.
The World Bank was committing $652 million through three projects to strengthen institutions, municipal services and infrastructure in Karachi, according to a handout that the local office of the Washington-based lender issued on Friday. The board of directors of the World Bank approved the loan a day earlier.
The World Bank also approved another loan of $70 million for improving tourism services in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Karachi projects will focus on urban management, public transport, and safe water and sanitation to enhance Karachi’s liveability and competitiveness, said the World Bank.
The projects have been approved in light of the findings of the Karachi Transformative Strategy, which estimated that infrastructure needed $9-10 billion for the city over a period of next 10 years. This money was required to improve urban transport, water supply, sanitation and municipal solid waste treatment.
The study noted that compared to huge financing needs, the city was not generating enough resources to meet these requirements. The collections of the urban immovable property tax from Karachi remained dismal compared to the potential. Punjab collected four times as much in this tax as Sindh every year, it added.
The World Bank study stated that unclear roles, overlapping functions, and poor coordination among various agencies responsible for city governance and management have worsened city’s problems. Municipal and city development functions are highly fragmented, with roughly 20 agencies across federal, provincial, and local levels performing these functions, leading to lack of coordinated planning and integration at the city level.
