World Bank Ties $600m Financing to Wheat, Sugar Trade Reforms

The World Bank has proposed $600 million in financing for Pakistan tied to a set of reforms that include removing wheat and sugar from the Import/Export Order, 2022, opening urea imports to more private companies and cutting regulatory barriers to investment and trade. The World Bank $600 million programme would run for five years.

The proposal is set out in the bank’s project documents for a programme aimed at shifting Pakistan from economic stabilisation towards growth led by private investment and exports. Details of the bank’s work in the country are available on the World Bank Pakistan page.

World Bank $600 Million Programme: Cost Breakdown

Key Reforms Linked to the Financing

• Wheat and sugar: taking both commodities off the Import/Export Order, 2022, to deregulate the two markets and attract private investment.
• Urea imports: allowing greater private-sector participation instead of relying mainly on government imports.
• Seeds: a single national system for approving new seed varieties.
• Business laws: a unified corporate insolvency law and a dedicated factoring law to help businesses raise money against their invoices.
• Exports: fully operationalising the Export-Import Bank of Pakistan with a banking licence and export credit and guarantee products.
• Jobs abroad: Global Skills Partnership agreements to create structured overseas job pathways for workers with recognised qualifications.

Why the World Bank Is Pushing These Changes

The bank has identified a costly and complex regulatory environment, limited access to finance, high trade costs and a gap between workers’ skills and employers’ needs as the main obstacles to investment. It notes that more than three million Pakistanis enter the job market every year, so investment has to turn into real jobs.

The programme is aligned with the government’s URAAN Pakistan economic plan, which aims to raise private investment to 15% of GDP by 2035.

How the World Bank $600 Million Reforms Could Affect You

• Consumers: Freer trade in wheat and sugar could mean prices are set more by the market, which may bring both relief and sharper swings.
• Farmers: Faster seed approvals and private urea imports could improve access to inputs, while the end of government intervention adds market risk.
• Businesses and exporters: Insolvency and factoring laws and a working EXIM Bank could make it easier to get finance.
• Job seekers: New overseas employment pathways could open more legal routes to work abroad.

The financing is still a proposal and will need approval from the World Bank’s board before any money is released.

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