| Pakistan
has grown much more than other low-income countries, but has
failed to achieve social progress commensurate with its economic
growth. The educated and well-off urban population lives not
so differently from their counterparts in other countries of
similar income range. However, the poor and rural inhabitants
of Pakistan are being left behind. For example, access to sanitation
in Pakistan is 23 percent lower than in other countries with
similar income. |
|
| Maternal
mortality remains high at 450 per 100,000 live births. Gender
gaps remain in schooling, largely due to the rural areas where
only 22 percent of girls above age 10 have completed primary
level or higher schooling as compared to 47 percent boys. While
the PSLSMS indicates an improvement in Net Enrolment Rate (NER),
from 42% in 2001/02 to 52 per cent, it still indicates that
almost half of the primary school age cohort is currently out
of school. While the NER shows an insignificant gender gap in
urban areas, NER for rural girls at 42 percent trails behind
rural boys’ NER of 53 percent. |
|
| Meeting
the vision embraced in the Millennium Development Goals by 2015
(including the reduction of infant and child mortality by two
thirds and maternal mortality by three quarters and halving
the percentage of the population living in poverty) will require
renewed efforts in Pakistan. The World Bank’s assistance
strategy is based on measurable outcomes using the MDGs as the
background for its engagement in Pakistan. |
|
| WORLD
BANK ASSISTANCE TO PAKISTAN |
|
| The
World Bank's strategy is to support implementation of the Government
of Pakistan’s own Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP)
and to provide financing and technical assistance for both economic
and human development. The strategy is built around three main
themes which correspond to the pillars of the PRSP. |
|
| SUSTAINING
HIGH AND BROAD BASED GROWTH, AND IMPROVING COMPETITIVENESS |
|
| Pakistan’s
PRSP emphasizes the importance of sustaining rapid and broad-based
economic growth as the principle means of reducing poverty.
While significant progress has been made in reducing state intervention
in the economy and improving the regulatory framework for private
business, firms continue to face significant policy, regulatory,
and infrastructure constraints. To help address these constraints
and create an environment conducive to healthy private sector
growth, the Bank program will support legal and regulatory reforms
to improve the business environment along with investments in
water, power, transport, and other infrastructure sectors. |
|
| IMPROVING
GOVERNANCE |
|
| Improving
government performance is a central element of Pakistan’s
poverty reduction strategy. The Bank is assisting the government’s
efforts in this area by supporting reforms in public financial
management and procurement; restructuring of the tax administration
bureaucracy; support for civil service reforms; and assistance
to local and municipal governments to improve their capacity
for delivering public services. |
| |
