World Bank ranks Pakistan in fourth quintile for challenging business environment

The World Bank has placed Pakistan in the fourth quintile of economies owing to a challenging business environment caused by weak regulatory frameworks and limited public services, which hinder business operational efficiency.

The newly released report, “Business Ready (B-READY),” is a data collection and analysis project to assess the global business and investment climate. This annual report replaces and improves upon the previous “Doing Business” project, with the first edition of B-READY covering 50 economies.

B-READY is currently in a three-year rollout phase, from 2024 to 2026, during which the project will expand its geographic coverage and refine its methods. The 2024 report is the first of three in this rollout phase.

Pakistan scored 65.90 in operational efficiency, placing it in the third quintile, indicating a mixed performance in its business environment.

The report highlighted that eight economies—Botswana, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lesotho, Morocco, Pakistan, the Philippines, and the Seychelles—ranked in the top quintile for at least one topic. Meanwhile, Hungary and Singapore scored in the top quintile across eight topics.