PM Shehbaz, World Bank delegation discuss $40bn accord

In a key development, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met the Executive Directors of the World Bank, who arrived in Pakistan on Monday after two decades to review the implementation of $40 billion funding.

According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), PM Shehbaz welcomed the delegation on their arrival in Pakistan.

“The partnership between the World Bank and Pakistan spans the past seven decades,” he said.

PM Shehbaz said several major projects were built in Pakistan, with the support of the World Bank, for national development and reconstruction, which played an important role in Pakistan’s development.

$20bn funding: World Bank’s Country Partnership Framework for Pakistan launched

“Under the World Bank’s recent Country Partnership Framework, an investment of $40 billion will be made in Pakistan, which is a welcome development,” said PM Shehbaz.

He said that with $20 billion, a new chapter of development will open in Pakistan through investments in various projects in health, education, youth development and other social sectors.

Moreover, the country’s economic wheel will turn faster with the investment of $20 billion in Pakistan’s private sector under the International Finance Corporation (IFC), he said.

“I am grateful for the World Bank’s confidence in the government’s policies,” PM Shehbaz said.

The prime minister informed the World Bank delegation that the government has fast-tracked work on digitisation in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to contain inflation.

“Reforms in the power sector are bringing uninterrupted power supply and reducing deficit,” he told the delegation.

PM urges IFC to support key sectors

The participants of the World Bank delegation appreciated the implementation of Pakistan’s ongoing reform program.

They said that the government’s ongoing reform program is yielding positive results in Pakistan, read the PMO’s statement.

“The delegation appreciated the government’s reform initiatives in energy, industry and exports, privatisation, revenue and other sectors,” they said, read the statement.

Nine Executive Directors of the World Bank have visited Pakistan, and they are overseeing portfolios of different countries in the World Bank.

The delegation will discuss economic development projects and investments in Pakistan.

The meeting was also attended by Federal Ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Ahad Khan Cheema, Sardar Owais Khan Leghari, Dr Musaddiq Malik, Ministers of State Ali Pervez Malik, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Prime Minister’s Coordinator Romina Khurshid Alam, Senator Sherry Rehman, Member of National Assembly Nafisa Shah, Prime Minister’s Representative for Polio Program Ayesha Raza Farooq and relevant senior officials.

Earlier, the IFC, the World Bank’s finance wing, announced plans to boost equity investments and target large-scale infrastructure financing in Pakistan.

In an interview with Reuters, IFC Managing Director Makhtar Diop revealed that this initiative could unlock up to $2 billion annually over the next decade.

Diop emphasised that this investment, while significant, is essential for Pakistan’s development, particularly in critical areas such as international airports, energy, water and ports.