Pakistan, World Bank ink loan deals worth US$ 918 mln

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the World Bank on Tuesday inked three loan agreements worth US$ 918 million to help support revenue mobilisation and higher education development in the country on Tuesday.

Secretary of Economic Affairs Division Noor Ahmed signed the agreement on behalf of the federal government and World Bank Country Director Patchamuthu Illangovan signed on behalf of the lending institution.

The representatives of Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government signed their respective agreements.

Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh witnessed the signing ceremony.

The World Bank will extend US$400 million for Pakistan’s program to contribute to a sustainable increase in domestic revenue by broadening the tax base and facilitating compliance. The targets of the program include increasing Pakistan’s tax to GDP ratio to 17 percent, the number of active taxpayers to 3.5 million and reducing the compliance burden of paying taxes and improving efficiency of customs controls.

The HEC loand worth US$400 million would support research excellence in strategic sectors of the economy, improve teaching and learning and strengthening governance in the higher education sector.

The third agreement related to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Mobilisation and Resource Management Program worth US$118 million would boost collection of KP’s own-source revenues and improve the management of public resources.

Later, the World Bank’s Country Director held a meeting with the Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance.

Hafeez Shaikh thanked the World Bank Team for extending their continuous support to Pakistan in its efforts to achieve the sustainable economic development of the country.

He appreciated the World Bank relationship with Pakistan and desired the programs implementing agencies to put their best efforts to implement their respective programs to help achieving the programs objectives.