Pakistan, WB Sign $918 Mln Loan Agreements To Support Revenue Mobilization, Higher Education

Pakistan and World Bank (WB) Tuesday signed three loan agreements worth US$ 918 million to help support revenue mobilization and higher education development in the country

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Jun, 2019 ):Pakistan and World Bank (WB) Tuesday signed three loan agreements worth US$ 918 million to help support revenue mobilization and higher education development in the country.

The agreements were signed by Secretary, Economic Affairs Division, Noor Ahmed on behalf of federal government, WB Country Director and World Bank, Patchamuthu Illangovan while the representatives of Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa signed their respective Project Agreements.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, witnessed the signing ceremony.

The World bank would provide US$400.0 million for the programme 'Pakistan Raises Revenue Program' which is aimed at contributing to a sustainable increase in domestic revenue by broadening the tax base and facilitating compliance.

The Program's targeted results include; increasing Pakistan's tax to GDP ratio to 17 percent; increasing the number of active taxpayers to 3.5 million; reducing the compliance burden of paying taxes; and improving the efficiency of customs controls.

The programme of the Higher Education Development in Pakistan 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 project would finance for nurturing academic excellence in strategic sectors; supporting decentralized higher education institutes for improved teaching and learning; equipping students and higher education institutions with modern technology; higher education management information system and data drive services; and capacity building, project management and monitoring & evaluation.

The third agreement was related to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Mobilization and Resource Management Program worth US$118.0 million, the objective of which is to increase collection of KP's own-source revenues and improve the management of public resources.

This objective would be achieved through efficient revenue mobilization; effective public resource management and capacity building to enhance e-government functionality.

The Program would help the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to mobilize its own source revenue to address the constraint of limited fiscal space for investment and public service provision and efficient and strategic use of the province's financial resources.

Later, the WB Country Director held a meeting with the Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance.

The Adviser thanked the WB team for extending continuous support to the government of Pakistan in its efforts to achieve the sustainable economic development of the country.

He appreciated the WB's 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.