ADB plans $0.5 million programme to strengthen procurement, financial systems in Pakistan, region

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has proposed a $500,000 regional technical assistance programme to strengthen public financial management and procurement systems in Pakistan and more than 40 other developing member countries across Asia and the Pacific.

The initiative, titled “Conducting Fiduciary Assessments and Strengthening Country Systems in Asia and the Pacific,” will run from 2026 to 2028.

For Pakistan, the programme is expected to help identify weaknesses in public financial management and procurement systems and support reform roadmaps for budget execution, financial reporting, internal controls, auditing and procurement practices.

According to the proposal, the multi-region technical assistance will support ADB’s governance agenda by conducting fiduciary diagnostics aligned with country partnership strategy preparation cycles starting between 2026 and 2028.

It will also develop practical reform pathways and provide implementation support for selected actions at country, sector and executing or implementing agency levels.

The programme will include targeted capacity development, knowledge products and peer learning to help scale governance practices across developing member countries.

ADB said the assistance will also support improvements in public procurement assessment tools and frameworks used for country and agency system assessments.

The bank plans to support internationally recognised practices such as the Methodology for Assessing Procurement Systems (MAPS), which is used for procurement diagnostics and benchmarking.

ADB said weaknesses in public financial management and procurement systems continue to affect project implementation in developing member countries.

These gaps, often compounded by capacity constraints at country, sector and agency levels, increase transaction costs, reduce implementation effectiveness and limit reliance on country and agency systems in ADB-financed operations.

The bank said fragmented fiduciary analysis also limits the usefulness of governance diagnostics under country partnership strategies when assessments are not converted into feasible reform plans.

Under the new technical assistance, ADB will join the MAPS Steering Committee and support MAPS Secretariat financing for the 2027-2029 cycle.

The bank said this would help reflect the needs and lessons of its developing member countries and improve coordination of procurement diagnostics linked to operational priorities.