ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s infrastructure sector faces a high risk of corruption and governance failures despite having a largely sound regulatory framework, according to an assessment released by Transparency International (TI) Pakistan on Friday.
The report warns that weak implementation of rules, politically driven project selection, fiscal pressures and growing reliance on non-competitive contracting are undermining transparency and efficiency in public infrastructure planning and delivery.
The report, titled “Infrastructure Corruption Risk Assessment (ICRAT): Assessment of Governance Gaps in Infrastructure Planning and Implementation in Pakistan,” assigns Pakistan an overall context risk score of 6.34 out of 10, placing it in the “High ICRAT Risk” category. It is the first application in Pakistan of the Infrastructure Corruption Risk Assessment Tool developed by Transparency International Australia.
According to the assessment, Pakistan has established a comprehensive formal framework governing infrastructure planning, appraisal, procurement and implementation. However, the report concludes that the principal challenge lies not in regulatory design but in the persistent gap between policy commitments and their effective implementation.
The report identifies weaknesses in project selection and public investment management, noting that under fiscal constraints and short political cycles, infrastructure projects are often chosen for their political visibility rather than technical merit. It highlights that discretionary development spending tends to rise around election periods, while weak adherence to project prioritisation mechanisms has resulted in an unsustainable development portfolio.
A key concern raised by the report is the growing backlog of unfinished projects. It notes that the Public Sector Development Programme’s (PSDP) “throw-forward”, unfunded commitments from approved projects, has exceeded Rs10 trillion against an annual allocation of approximately Rs1 trillion, meaning that at current funding levels many projects could take more than a decade to complete.
The assessment also points to significant concerns in public procurement. While the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) Rules 2004 provide for open and competitive bidding, subsequent amendments have introduced broad exemptions. The report notes that the National Highway Authority (NHA) has increasingly relied on PPRA Rule 42(f) to award major contracts directly to state-owned enterprises, bypassing competitive procurement processes and limiting private-sector participation.
TI Pakistan Executive Director Kashif Ali said, “The key challenge for infrastructure governance in Pakistan is not regulatory design but the structural gap between commitments embedded in rules and frameworks and their effective implementation.”
The report proposes a series of reforms to strengthen accountability, transparency and efficiency in infrastructure governance. These include the preparation of a five-year costed national infrastructure investment strategy, mandatory identification of responsibility for project delays, timely publication of project completion reports and stronger oversight of development spending.
Among its key recommendations, the report calls for bringing all state-owned enterprises fully under PPRA procurement rules, reforming Rule 42(f) to limit direct contracting, ensuring merit-based appointments in NHA leadership and requiring proactive disclosure of project documents, including feasibility studies, contract amendments and cost revisions.
It also advocates stronger parliamentary scrutiny of PSDP and NHA expenditures, improved enforcement of right-to-information laws and meaningful public participation throughout project planning and implementation.
Justice (R) Zia Perwez, Chairman of TI Pakistan, said sustainable improvement in infrastructure governance would require coordinated action across the entire project lifecycle and among all relevant stakeholders.
