Govt seeks World Bank advice on agri tax, climate financing

Pakistan is seeking additional financial and technical support from the World Bank, including developing an effective and transparent budget-making process and a uniform provincial mechanism for agricultural tax and climate resilience. The bank has already committed to a financial pipeline of about $10 billion over the next five years, with an average of $2bn per annum, under the next Country Partnership Strategy (CPS), which will be finalised next month. In this context, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the WB’s Country Director Najy Benhassine led their respective sides at a meeting on Tuesday. The minister eulogised the importance of collaboration with the World Bank to support Pakistan’s economic reforms and development agenda and appreciated financial and technical assistance across various sectors. An official statement said that the minister assured the government’s commitment to fiscal discipline, sustainable growth, and efficient resource utilisation.