ISLAMABAD: The World Bank will submit the next Country Partnership Framework (CPF) 2022-26 to the executive directors of the World Bank Group (WBG) by the end of fiscal year 2021.

The World Bank “Factsheet: World Bank Group Stakeholder Consultations in Pakistan, Country Partnership Framework 2022-26” updated on its website stated that led by WBG, a series of consultative discussions and surveys began in December 2020.

These discussions will continue until February 2021, with the purpose to engage and hear from all stakeholders to share inputs on Pakistan’s development priorities.

A CPF is the central tool of the World Bank Group for reviewing and guiding the WBG’s country programs and gauging their effectiveness.

The CPF identifies the key objectives and development results through which the WBG intends to support a member country in its efforts to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity in a sustainable manner.

When preparing a CPF, the WBG starts from the member country’s own vision of its development goals, which are laid out in a poverty-focused national development strategy.

The WBG and the country draw upon the Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) to develop the CPF objectives together; deriving them from those country development goals that reflect the WBG’s comparative advantage; as well as alignment with the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity and taking into account opportunities for leveraging the private sector to provide sustainable solutions to development problems.

The CPF then outlines a selective and flexible program that will help the country achieve the CPF objectives.

The Pakistan team is engaging with key stakeholders on the next CPF, 2022-26 planned for board approval by the end of this fiscal year (FY21).

The CPF will draw from the SCD, Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD) and the flagship Pakistan@100: Shaping the Future initiative, which seeks to identify the main changes necessary for Pakistan to become an upper middle-income country by the time it turns 100 years old in 2047.

The WBG is in the process of preparing a new CPF for Pakistan that will outline its strategic support in the country for the period 2022-26.

The CPF provides an opportunity to create a five-year engagement plan based on consultations from various stakeholder groups, which helps the WBG to validate (or re-orient and adapt) its portfolio to the evolving political and economic contexts.

The WBG updates its strategy and work plan every four to five years to reflect the evolving priorities of its client countries.

The CPF will closely align with Pakistan’s development agenda.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021