In the current fiscal year, five projects being completed in partnership with the World Bank are expected to be completed, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Friday.
These include the $86 million Sindh Agriculture Growth Project, the $76m Sindh Irrigation Agriculture Productivity Enhancement Project, the $50m Public Sector Management Reform, the $187m Sindh Enhanced Response to Minimize Stunting, and the $86m Karachi Neighbourhood Improvement Program (KNIP). Speaking to Pakistan’s World Bank Country Director Najy Benhassine during a meeting at the House of Chief Ministers, Shah said that the provincial government wants to work for human resources, poverty reduction, stunting, revenue mobilization and economic reform with the help of the WB.
The meeting addressed 18 projects with an estimated budget of S3.25 billion, including ongoing $1.64b projects and projects, amounting to $1.61b, that are in the pipeline, according to a statement released by the CM office. Of the five projects expected to be completed in fiscal year 2020-2021, Shah said the WB has pledged $461 million, against which $267.7 million has been released so far, and the remaining $193.3 million is pending.
He added that 12 $1.64b projects are active and in development, while there are six $1.61b projects in the pipeline. The meeting noted that the Sindh Water and Agricultural Transformation and Sindh Early Warning Enhancement by Class Room Transformation include future projects to be launched in Sindh with the WB partnership.
The CM urged the WB to expedite the formalities so that in the next fiscal year the projects can be launched. In the meantime, Muhammad Waseem, Chairman of Planning and Development, told the meeting that the Sindh Resilience Project had been revised to include a changed scope of work to be approved by the National Economic Council Executive Committee (ECNEC).
