ISLAMABAD-Pakistan and World Bank on Wednesday have signed a loan agreement for “Punjab Resource Improvement and Digital Effectiveness Programme (PRIDE)” worth $304 million. Ministry of Economic Affairs Secretary Noor Ahmed, signed the loan agreement on behalf of the Government of Pakistan while the representative of Government of Punjab signed the operational agreement. World Bank Country Director Mr Najy Benhassine signed the programme agreements on behalf of the World Bank. Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar witnessed the signing ceremony of loan agreement held in the Ministry of Economic Affairs. On the occasion, the Minister for Economic Affairs reiterated the commitment of his government to improve fiscal management by augmentation of domestic revenues and to enhance spending on pro-people development initiatives. The Minister lauded strategy of the Punjab Government in this respect.
Minister for Economic Affairs, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar, thanked the World Bank Country Management for extending their continuous support to the Government of Pakistan in achieving sustainable economic development in the country. The Country Director, World Bank ensured its continuous support to the Government of Pakistan in achieving the priority development objectives.
The programme aims to help the Government of Punjab to increase its source revenue, and to improve the reliability of resource allocation and access to digital services for people and firms in the Province. The programme interventions would primarily address three challenging areas of financial risk management, revenue mobilization and expenditure management through better use of information systems. Improved Public Resources Management is expected to create additional fiscal space of Rs274 billion by end of the financial year 2025 thereby creating enough space for Government of Punjab to scale-up it’s spending on public service and infrastructure to foster rapid growth in the Province.
In October this year, the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors had approved $304 million in financing for Punjab Resource Improvement and Digital Effectiveness (PRIDE) Programme. According to the project documents, the total cost of the projects is $554 million where International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) will provide a loan of $304 million with a maturity period of 30 years and grace period of five years. The programme supports efficiencies in public resource management that generate savings and create fiscal space for growth-generating investments in the Punjab province.
The PRIDE Programme will support the government of Punjab in strengthening fiscal risk management and budget formulation to ensure reliable resource allocation for public services. The programme will improve revenue collection by increasing registration of businesses and real estate and simplifying tax administration processes such as registration, filing, payment, refunds, and appeals.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the programme also focuses on deploying technology-based solutions to enhance public service delivery and increase access to online services for firms and individuals. This will support Punjab in digitizing key government services to streamline processes and increase efficiencies in public service delivery.