The World Bank has lowered its rating for a $100 million reform program in Sindh province. The rating dropped from “satisfactory” to “moderately satisfactory” because of delays in key reforms, missing approvals for technical support, and weaknesses in health, education and statistics.
The program is called “Pakistan Public Resources for Inclusive Development – Phase I (Sindh).” It aims to improve the province’s tax system and public services. The program started on March 6, 2026, and will end on Dec. 31, 2030. So far, about $19.97 million has been spent — roughly 20% of the total $99.81 million budget.
What is delayed?
A plan to improve how primary healthcare is funded has missed its June 30, 2026 deadline.
A plan to track school spending by gender has been delayed.
Sindh’s school funding policy is ready but still waiting for approval from the Finance Department and the provincial cabinet. This has slowed the release of school budgets.
Work to strengthen the Sindh Bureau of Statistics is moving slowly because of limited staff and technical capacity. A draft assessment and data plan are still under review.
Approval of a technical assistance plan (called PC-I) is holding up many activities. The World Bank says this approval is essential to keep reforms on track.
What is going well?
Sindh’s own tax collection rose to 593 billion rupees in August 2026, up from 424.8 billion rupees in March 2026. The target is 750 billion rupees by June 2030.
The number of sales tax filers on services grew to 38,015 in June 2026, beating the target of 35,500.
Registered sales taxpayers rose to 67,464, just short of the 68,000 target.
Sales tax collection on services reached 342.1 billion rupees, up from 284 billion a year earlier.
Advance income tax collection rose to 1.05 billion rupees from 780 million.
About 40% of government payments now go through electronic transfers. The goal is to reach 80%.
What still needs work?
The report also points to weak tax audits, property valuation and tax administration automation. Delays in the PC-I approval have blocked work on property valuation and tax process mapping.
The World Bank kept the program’s overall development goal rating at “satisfactory.” But it rated political and governance risks as “high” because of weak institutional capacity and challenges in carrying out the reforms.
