Instead of relying on domestic resources, Pakistan has signed two agreements with the Asian Development Bank to get $453 million loan for development projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. The bank will provide $335 million loan for a Bus Rapid Transport system in Peshawar and $100 million for delivery of public-private partnership projects in Sindh. The two provincial governments are in a position to manage their financial affairs themselves after the 18th amendment to the constitution. Both the governments have their own revenue collection authorities and tax system. However, they have adopted the path of the federal government which has made it a routine to take loans for developmental and infrastructural projects.
No doubt the population of Peshawar has increased many folds for the last two decades after mass migration from rural areas. But the revenue collection has also increased as Peshawar has become a centre of trade and commerce in the province. The booming population of the city has created pressure on public transport infrastructure and basic urban services. However, necessity to improve the transport system is there, but the method of development is wrong as the country has already been burdened with heavy loans. The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf had come to power on the slogan that it will bring a change to the country’s decades old system, but it has adopted the ways of the other political parties.
The situation in Sindh is even more ambiguous where a private company is involved in the projects and $100 million loan will be spent to mobilise private sector investment in infrastructure development. According to a bank official, the loan will help strengthen the Sindh government’s capacity to identify, develop, and implement projects with participation of the private sector. The British government will co-finance the projects by providing nearly $25 million as technical assistance. The Sindh government will spend $65million, bringing the total cost of the project to nearly $189million. At least 52 percent population of Sindh province lives in cities and it generates 32 percent of the country’s GDP. It is hoped that the loan will be spent judiciously and in a fair manner. Loans are already piling up and are burden on the national economy as it is becoming increasingly difficult for the government to return the loans.
