Islamabad:
On the one hand, the World Bank has approved a $20 billion package for Pakistan, but on the other hand, it has also described the ongoing political division in the country and the ongoing incidents of violence in two provinces as challenges to the successful implementation of the package.The World Bank framework documents state that political risks in Pakistan are high, and rising political tensions could impact fiscal policymaking decisions, especially energy subsidies and tax exemptions. Coordination issues and uncoordinated policy stances between the federal government and the provinces could exacerbate these risks.
Regarding security issues, the framework document states that security issues are increasing, especially in the FATA areas of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Violence has increased in these areas in the past year. These areas are also extremely backward in terms of human development. Due to security issues, difficulties will be faced in working in these areas.
According to the framework documents, the World Bank package aims to enable human development, including educational objectives, but the violent incidents will make it difficult to implement human development projects in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The World Bank has emphasized the need to conduct a detailed analysis and adopt a strategy accordingly to achieve the goal.