Karachi needs $10b to build infrastructure

World Bank official says city has been neglected for very long period of time

KARACHI: Karachi needs around $10 billion in financing over a period of 10 years to meet its infrastructure and service-delivery needs in urban transport, water supply and sanitation and municipal solid waste sectors, said World Bank’s Senior Specialist in Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Namoos Zaheer.

She stated this while speaking about issues faced by Karachi on the basis of the World Bank report “Transforming Karachi into a livable and competitive megacity: a city diagnostic and transformation strategy’ - during her visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).



“There is a threat to livability in Karachi, which has been acting as the engine of growth,” Zaheer said.

“Pakistan needs a growth rate of around 7-8% in order to create two million jobs for the youth entering the job market,” she said, adding, “Karachi has to play the lead role, but unfortunately, the city has been neglected for a very long period of time.”

She said the World Bank was funding several service-delivery projects in Karachi like the yellow line, water supply and urban management. There was a need to maximise financing for development by efficiently utilising the existing limited resources of the government, which would yield much greater results, she said.

There was also a need to mobilise the private sector to achieve the objective of maximising financing for development while the tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio should be at least 15% in order to enable the government to ensure availability of basic needs for the citizens, she added.



Karachi is the country’s financial and economic hub, generating 12-15% of Pakistan’s GDP, and is a manufacturing powerhouse in the country.

The World Bank asked the business and industrial community of Karachi that as the government held plenty of spare land, the business community could collaborate with the government and the land could be used to attract investment from the private sector, like setting up hotels to attract tourism.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2018.

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