ISLAMABAD: The World Bank?s report on ?Doing Business 2011? has further downgraded by eight notches Pakistan?s overall ranking in one year, during the tenure of the PPP-led regime. The country has slipped to the 83rd spot in 2011 against the 75th position in 2010, indicating the growing misgovernance and mismanagement.
According to the WB?s report on Doing Business 2011 titled ?Making a Difference for Entrepreneurs?, Pakistan?s ranking went down in eight categories out of the total nine as the country, in terms of starting a business, nosedived to the 85th position in 2011 against the 69th position in 2010, indicating that the ranking declined by 16 notches in one go.
The WB?s report pointed out serious flaws related to overall governance that created impediments in the way of doing business in Pakistan but praised the institution of judiciary. It states: ?In 2002, Pakistan implemented the Access to Justice Programme to reduce delays in a number of pilot courts. The improvements cost $350 million and focused on providing more training, such as in case of management techniques. Research analysing court data for 2001-03 shows that after the court reforms, 25 percent more cases were decided in the affected districts.?
Pakistan?s ranking is the lowest in terms of enforcing contracts as it stood at the 155th position against 156th in 2010. Only 47 procedures are required to enforce contracts, which took at least 976 days to complete it.
In the category of paying taxes, the WB report found that Pakistan?s ranking stood at 145th in 2011 against the 139th position in 2011. There are different 47 taxes, which are being paid by taxpayers who took 560 hours to pay their due taxes in the whole year.
For trading across the borders, Pakistan?s ranking was at 81st as documents for export purposes stood at nine and the time to exports took 21 days while the cost to export per container stood at $611.
For import purposes, eight documents are required and it took 18 days to complete this process while the cost of import of each container stands at $680. For protecting investors, the country ranked at 28th in 2011 against 27th in 2010. The extent of disclosure index stood at 6th position out of total 0 to 10 and strength of investor index is 6.3 out of 0 to 10 points.
In Pakistan, for starting any business, there are 10 procedures required to go ahead, which took at least 21 days to complete the whole process. The cost in terms of percentage of income per capita stands at 10.7 percent for starting any business.
The country?s ranking in dealing with construction permits improved in 2011 as it stood at the 98th position in accordance with the latest report against 102nd position in 2010. For obtaining construction permits, there is requirement to fulfil 12 procedures, which took at least 223 days to complete it.
The WB?s report pointed out that Pakistan?s ranking was downgraded in terms of registering property because of an increase in taxation rate from 2 to 4 percent as it declined to 126th position in 2011 against the 18th position in 2010.
Six procedures are required to register the property, which took 50 days at least to complete it. The cost of registration in terms of percentage of property value stood at 9.2 percent. Pakistan?s ranking in terms of getting credit stood at the 65th position in 2011 against the 61st position in 2010. On the strength of legal right index (0 to 10), it stands at the 6th position. The depth of credit information index (0 to 10), Pakistan is at the 4th position.
The public registry coverage for adults stood at 5.8 per cent while private bureau coverage in terms of getting credit for adults is 1.4 per cent. The report states that in South Asia, outdated laws based on the British ?winding-up? model are still binding in several economies. Insolvency proceedings in the region are the longest in the world, taking 4.5 years on an average.
But the cost of proceedings is the lowest globally, averaging 6.5 percent of the value of the debtor?s estate. In June 2010, bankruptcy reforms were discussed in at least three economies. Afghanistan was working with international insolvency experts on ways to improve its insolvency framework. India and Pakistan were considering passing laws on restructuring.
