World Bank clears $150m to lift Sindh municipal revenues
Sindh property tax collection and local services will be overhauled under the new Sindh PREP package, with Karachi at the centre of the revenue and reinvestment push.
The World Bank board cleared $150 million for Sindh PREP to lift urban property tax take and local service capacity, especially in Karachi.
Karachi now brings in about $8.5 million a year from property tax; the plan targets $85 million and compliance of 50 percent, up from 20 percent.
Roughly 70 percent of that revenue is meant to go back into drainage, sewerage, schools, fire stations, roads and street lighting across 25 Karachi councils serving about 3.58 million people.
A $40 million slice will extend surveys and tax administration to 20 councils elsewhere in urban Sindh, with an expected indirect reach of about 4.5 million people.
Local councils now rely on provincial transfers for over 95 percent of their income, World Bank Country Director Bolormaa Amgaabazar said.