World Bank (WB) emphasised the need to enhance service delivery to Pakistan's citizens with particular attention to programmes in health, education, water and sanitation, and safety nets is essential for the achievement of Pakistan's poverty reduction goals.
Working across sectors, the World Bank sources stated, the Bank Group will continue to support reforms to increase capacity and accountability of those responsible for service delivery, empower communities and clients through enhanced access to information on finances and performance and build the capacity of both communities and governments.
World Bank sources said that improving the quality of public administration is critical for making public expenditures more effective and for improving service delivery. While the size of the civil service in Pakistan is not problematic, improving its performance is recognised by the government as a key challenge for improving service delivery.
THE KEY PROBLEMS ARE: (i) systemic rigidities that make it difficult to recruit and move staff between departments as needed, (ii) compensation is insufficient to attract skilled entrants at the higher levels but may be too generous at lower levels, (iii) inadequate training which has led to an erosion in the quality of civil service and critical gaps in technical skills.
Implementation of a comprehensive civil service reform is proceeding slowly, although there are very important pieces of the reform going forward. The best progress has been made on merit recruitment, training, pay and pensions and capacity building of selected government line and regulatory agencies. However, improvements in overall public service delivery require progress across a broader front in the civil service programme as well as in the devolution agenda.
Over the coming CAS period, the bank will continue to support development and implementation of a long-term strategy for public sector employment, which would include further implementation of merit-based recruitment and promotion, structural changes to support devolution, further pay and pension reforms and continued capacity building through effective national and international training.
WB sources pointed out that procurement irregularities have been a significant problem in Pakistan, in large part due to a weak regulatory framework that discouraged due diligence in contract awards and stifled open competition. Specific problems have included inadequate bidding documents, inadequate response time to bidders, pre-qualification as a means of restricting competition, price negotiations, lack of independent complaints handling process, and irregularities in inspections or measurements.
During the CAS, the bank will support the achievement of transparent and efficient public procurement at federal and autonomous bodies levels. The bank will support the government in (i) developing a implementing regulations for the recently notified public procurement rules, (ii) developing credible complaints handling process, (iii) developing rules for the selection of consultants, (iv) introducing reporting requirements and a credible enforcement mechanism, (v) capacity building for the Pakistan Public Procurement Regulatory Authority and (vi) harmonising audit and procurement procedures. Procurement will also be an integral part of the PFM performance measurement assessments planned during the CAS period.
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