ISLAMABAD, Jan 31: The World Bank has asked Pakistan to improve "transparency and accountability mechanisms" in the provinces to ensure good governance which is widely lacking across the country.

Officials told Dawn on Wednesday that the bank had promised adequate financial and technical assistance to help "strengthen public sector capacity-building and enhance quality of civil service" in order to discourage corrupt practices and misuse of funds.

The bank maintains that performance, effectiveness, capacity and quality of public sector institutions in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan, have been deteriorating with the passage of time. Although the civil service has pockets of excellence, its collective performance leaves a lot to be desired.

“If Pakistan has to accelerate growth, reduce poverty and enable the private sector to realise the full potential in a competitive global market, a substantial improvement is needed in efficiency and management culture of the government,” the bank added.

The successful implementation of government's ongoing reform programme both at the federal and provincial levels has been largely linked with the capacity of government institutions and the quality of civil service.

The bank has promised to help impalement the government's ongoing structural reform programme at the federal, provincial and district levels. However, it said that there was a critical need for well trained and qualified professionals, technical and management officers in the civil service to successfully implement the government's programme of poverty reduction, economic growth and human development.

Initially, it has been decided to promote transparency and accountability mechanisms in Balochistan through the Public Sector Capacity Building Project (PSCBP) being funded by the World Bank.