''A Wonderful Year for Pakistan''

Appreciating the prudent economic policies, initiated by Pakistan during the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013-14, the World Bank has declared it "a Wonderful Year for Pakistan". "Last fiscal year, ending June 30, was truly a wonderful year for Pakistan" a statement of the World Bank said on Friday. The World Bank said: "there was a lot of positive sentiment about the country in the ranks of Senior Management and the Executive Board who wished to see Pakistan succeed in its efforts toward reducing extreme poverty and sharing prosperity; objectives closely aligned to the World Bank Group''s twin goals. Support so far has been unanimous and substantial."
The Bank further said till about nine months ago officials in the Bank were having sleepless nights, concerned about the non-commitment and utilisation of the remaining US $1.6 billion in the final year of IDA-16 which would have lapsed, cancelled or diverted elsewhere had timely measures not been initiated. However, the year ended with a record disbursement of US $1.695 billion, of which the major chunk (more than 90%) was from highly concessionary IDA. It added that the delivery targets were not only met, but the new IDA commitments of US$1.873 billion also indicate a record financing for Pakistan.
"IDA-16 balance from the country allocation was fully utilised and additional finances were accessed from the balances available with regional allocations and through recommitted funds from other IDA cancellations," it added. The World Bank also said that the different instruments were used to either commit or disburse the finances. On the investment side, DASU Hydro-power and CASA 1,000 were noteworthy, especially in view of the fact that CASA, which aims at establishing regional connectivity, had remained in limbo for the last almost fifteen years.
Similarly, DASU, after Tarbela, would be the biggest hydro-power station in the country. "On the policy side, two Development Policy Credits of US $1.0 billion were approved, focusing on power and growth," it said. The World Bank further said the Provinces have also been associated with this development effort during this period.
"Punjab Public Management Reform Programme and Sindh Agriculture Growth Project have been approved from IDA resources and a number of projects in KPK and Balochistan provinces are currently being financed from multi-donor trust funds, wherein several new commitments have been ensured," it added. "The World Bank has also delivered a new Country Partnership Strategy for the Group which has an assistance envelope of US $11 billion over a period of four years. It supports the Government''s vision of development through the four Es (ie Education, Energy, Economy and eliminating Extremism)," it remarked.
The World Bank said that International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, is also coming in a big way to finance private power projects in Pakistan. A case in point is their recent equity investment with Three Gorges Company of China to set up hydro, wind and solar projects aiming to generate additional 3,200 MWs of electricity in the country, it added. IFC''s stamping and branding would be instrumental in bringing five to six billion dollars of foreign-direct investment in Pakistan in the next three years or so.
A signing ceremony has been scheduled in this regard in Islamabad next month. The Bank also said "from all counts, last year was an exceptional year for Pakistan in the World Bank. More often than not, and even from a historical perspective, such window of opportunity is usually brief and small." The World Bank stressed that need for, carrying forward the momentum of the last year by building on the goodwill generated thus far and matching it with performance and results.