Options to support urban infrastructure delivery in Pakistan : survey for the province of Punjab

Pakistan has more than 210 million inhabitants with a population that is increasing by 2 percent per annum. More than 60% of Pakistan’s population currently lives in rural areas. However, the rural population is moving towards cities due to diminishing work opportunities in the agricultural sector. For this reason, a further investment in local infrastructure is essential. Moreover, in the last fifteen years, the economy of Pakistan has faced various domestic and external shocks such as the earthquake of 2005, the flood of 2010, the worldwide financial crisis of 2008 and the unsolved energy crisis. One of the richest part of Pakistan is the province of Punjab and in 2018 the minister of local bodies, Mr. Abdul Aleem Khan has announced that government of Punjab is going to introduce new local bodies system. Local body system of Punjab consists of 182 municipal committees, 10 metropolitans and 35 district councils and it is based on the Local Bodies’ Act of 2001 and 2013. This paper provides an general overview of the different options of local public finance around the world as well review the draft Punjab local government act 2019 from February 2019.