The World Bank’s board has cleared a $150 million package so Sindh can strengthen Sindh property tax administration and the services local councils deliver, with Karachi treated as the main priority. Officials framed the money as backing for the Sindh Property Revenues Enhancement Program, or Sindh PREP, which targets urban immovable property tax (UIPT)—the levy on buildings and plots in cities—and the ability of chosen councils to run day-to-day services.
What the financing is meant to change
Karachi’s property levy intake sits near $8.5 million a year, far below what cities of similar scale bring in; one World Bank briefing noted peer cities collect between 82 and 350 times as much. Under PREP, that annual take is meant to climb toward $85 million if compliance moves from about one-fifth of the base to half. Bolormaa Amgaabazar, the bank’s country director for Pakistan, said councils in the province still lean on provincial transfers for more than 95 percent of their budgets, and argued that cities able to earn more of their own money can plan and spend over longer horizons.
To support that shift, the programme will roll out a digital property-tax platform for bills, payments and complaint handling, plus shared financial-management tools across participating councils. Davison Muchadenyika, a senior urban development specialist at the bank, said Karachi still has large unused room to earn from its property stock and put those funds into the infrastructure households and firms need.
Where the money is supposed to go
About seven-tenths of the tax raised is earmarked for reinvestment in municipal works and services in Karachi’s 25 local councils, covering roughly 3.58 million residents. Priority works listed include drainage and sewerage, schools, fire stations, roads and street lighting. Releases are to follow yearly performance checks by an independent verification agent, so allocations track measured results rather than a fixed lump sum alone, including climate-resilient upgrades.
Beyond Karachi
Separate Investment Project Financing of $40 million will push property surveys and tax administration into 20 councils in other Sindh cities. That expansion is expected to reach about 4.5 million people indirectly. Together, the Karachi-focused revenue drive and the wider urban survey work form the core of how Sindh property tax systems are meant to feed local budgets instead of leaving councils almost wholly dependent on provincial transfers.
World Bank staff tied the package to fiscal sustainability: if cities collect more of what the law already allows and return most of it to visible services, planners say councils can fund repairs and new works from their own books. The approval itself does not set a new tax rate in the material released; it finances systems, surveys and performance-linked service spending around the existing UIPT framework.
Aasan alfaaz mein
World Bank ne Sindh ke liye $150 million ka programme approve kiya hai. Iska maqsad shehri property tax behtar collect karna aur local services mazboot karna hai, khas tor par Karachi mein. Jo tax collect hoga, us ka bohot bara hissa roads, drainage, schools aur lighting jaisi cheezon par wapas lagaya jana hai. Ordinary logon ke liye yeh matlab hai ke council services behtar ho sakti hain, lekin property owners se compliance bhi zyada expect ki ja sakti hai.
