Pakistans Public Wealth: The Missing Link in Fiscal Reform

Pakistans fiscal debate has long focused on taxation, expenditure and debt.
It is time to give equal attention to the nations public wealth.

By: Shahid Anwar.

One of the most important messages in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Governance and
Corruption Diagnostic Assessment on Pakistan has received surprisingly little public attention. The IMF
concludes that Pakistan's mechanisms for monitoring and accountability remain weak, particularly in the
management of financial and non-financial public assets and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). This finding
deserves serious attention because it shifts the policy debate from how governments spend public money
to how they manage the public wealth already created.
Pakistan's fiscal debate is usually dominated by taxation, budget deficits, public debt and government
expenditure. While these issues are undoubtedly important, they represent only one side of the public
finance equation. Governments are responsible not only for managing public finances but also for
safeguarding the vast public assets created through decades of public investment. Sound fiscal
management requires attention to both sides of the public balance sheet—government liabilities as well
as the public assets that support economic growth and public services. Yet public assets rarely receive the
same attention as taxes, borrowing and expenditure.
Across the country, the federal and provincial governments own vast public assets, including land, public
buildings, transport infrastructure, educational institutions, hospitals, irrigation systems and other public
facilities. Together, these assets constitute a significant part of Pakistan's national wealth. They support
economic activity, deliver essential public services and provide the infrastructure on which development
depends. Yet relatively little public information is available on what these assets are worth, how
effectively they are being used or whether they are delivering the greatest possible value to citizens.
The IMF argues that governance risks increase when governments lack comprehensive information on
their non-financial assets and do not have effective systems for monitoring, accountability and
stewardship. Weak asset records, fragmented accounting arrangements, incomplete information systems
and inadequate stewardship reduce transparency and make informed decision making more difficult.
Without reliable information, governments cannot accurately assess the condition of public assets,
determine maintenance priorities or make sound investment decisions.
The IMF also notes the absence of a unified approach to managing non-financial public assets. Until
recently, federal ministries and departments-maintained asset records under their own procedures,
resulting in fragmented information and inconsistent reporting. Such arrangements limited transparency,
weakened accountability and made it difficult to obtain a consolidated picture of the Government's non-
financial assets.
To address these shortcomings, the Government introduced the Public Assets Management Guidelines
2025, an important reform that has received relatively little public attention. Developed by the Ministry of
Finance following recommendations arising from the Public Investment Management Assessment
(PIMA/Climate PIMA), the Guidelines establish, for the first time, a unified framework for recording,
safeguarding and managing non-financial public assets across the federal government.

Importantly, the Guidelines should be seen as part of Pakistan's broader programme of public financial
management reforms rather than as an isolated administrative initiative. They complement ongoing
efforts to strengthen fiscal governance, improve budgeting, modernize financial reporting and enhance
transparency in the management of public resources.
The Guidelines require ministries, divisions and federal entities to maintain comprehensive asset
registers, assign clear responsibility for managing public assets, carry out regular physical verification and
report significant assets through a central digital registry integrated with the Financial Accounting and
Budgeting System (FABS). This represents an important shift towards a more consistent and accountable
system of public asset management.
However, maintaining an inventory should not become the ultimate objective. Recording assets is only
the first step. The greater challenge is ensuring that public assets are properly valued, well maintained,
efficiently utilized and managed in a way that maximizes their economic and social value.
The IMF also places particular emphasis on improving the governance of state-owned land. It
recommends establishing a centralized registry identifying all land owned by the State together with the
government entity responsible for its management. Such a registry would strengthen accountability,
improve transparency, reduce uncertainty over ownership and provide policymakers with reliable
information for planning and investment decisions.
In addition, the IMF recommends introducing clear, rule-based procedures for the transfer of state-owned
land and regularly publishing information on transfers, changes in property rights and the value received
by the Government. Greater transparency in land administration would reduce governance risks,
discourage discretionary decision making and strengthen public confidence in the management of
national assets. These recommendations show that managing public assets is far more than an
accounting exercise. It is a governance issue that affects fiscal sustainability, public service delivery and
public trust.
Pakistan has therefore taken an important first step through the Public Assets Management Guidelines
2025. The next challenge is to build on this progress by moving beyond public asset management towards
a broader approach to managing the nation's public wealth. That should become the next frontier of
Pakistan's fiscal reform.
The Public Assets Management Guidelines 2025 provide an important foundation. The next challenge is to
build on these reforms by moving beyond public asset management towards a broader public wealth
management framework. Public wealth management is about more than maintaining asset registers. It
means ensuring that public assets are properly recorded, regularly valued, well maintained, efficiently
used and managed in a transparent and accountable manner to maximize their value for the economy
and society.
This does not require a complicated system. Pakistan should gradually develop a comprehensive national
database of public assets by bringing together information from the federal, provincial and local
governments. Major public assets should be valued periodically so that policymakers know what they are
worth and can make better investment decisions. Every significant public asset should have a clearly
identified department responsible for its maintenance and effective use.
The Government should also publish more information on major public assets and state land transactions
to improve transparency and public confidence. Finally, modern digital systems should integrate asset
records with budgeting and financial management to support better planning and decision making.

Together, these measures would give policymakers, Parliament and the public a much clearer picture of
the country's public wealth.
As these reforms progress, Pakistan should consider publishing an annual Public Wealth Statement
alongside the Federal Budget. While the Budget explains how public money will be raised and spent, a
Public Wealth Statement would explain what the Government owns, how those assets are changing over
time and how effectively they are being managed. At a minimum, it should provide information on major
public assets, acquisitions, disposals, valuation changes and maintenance expenditure. It would
complement existing budget documents and give Parliament, investors and citizens a clearer picture of
the Government's overall financial position. Better information on public assets would also help identify
underutilized properties, improve maintenance planning and make more efficient use of scarce public
resources.
International experience, particularly in New Zealand, shows that better information on public assets
improves fiscal transparency and supports better policy decisions. Pakistan does not need to replicate
international models overnight, but it can gradually adopt similar practices in line with its own
institutional capacity and reform priorities.
Better management of public wealth should not be mistaken for privatization or the sale of public
property. The objective is not to sell national assets for short term fiscal gains, but to protect, maintain
and use them more effectively in the public interest. In many cases, better maintenance, improved
utilization and transparent leasing can create significant economic and social value without transferring
public ownership.
Pakistan's long-term prosperity will depend on stronger exports, higher investment, improved
productivity and sound public finances. However, it will also depend on how wisely the country manages
the wealth it already possesses. Every school, hospital, bridge, irrigation system, office building and parcel
of public land represents an investment made by generations of taxpayers. Protecting and making better
use of these assets is therefore just as important as building new ones.
Pakistan has rightly focused on improving tax collection, controlling public expenditure and managing
public debt. The next stage of fiscal reform should be to give equal attention to the nation's public wealth.
Managing public wealth should become an integral part of Pakistan's fiscal reform agenda. Governments
should report not only what they owe but also what they own, how those assets are being managed and
whether they are creating value for the public. Better management of public wealth is not simply an
administrative reform; it is an investment in stronger governance, sounder public finances and a more
sustainable economic future.

[The writer is an Economic Analyst and former Secretary General of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers
of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI). He has also served as Senior Director Research at the Institute of Cost
and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP). He can be reached at
shahid.anwar.writer.26@gmail.com]