Regulatory quality and regulatory authorities

Rules that enable the private sector

Indicators

Regulatory quality measures the ability of the government to formulate and implement sound policies and regulations that permit and promote private sector development.

What it measures

Burden of regulations on business, such as licences and permits.
Market-friendly policies on trade, investment and prices.
Quality of regulators and competition policy.
Ease of starting and running a business.

Pakistan's regulatory authorities

State Bank of Pakistan: banking and monetary policy (autonomy strengthened by the SBP Amendment Act 2022).
SECP: companies, stock market, insurance and non-bank finance.
NEPRA: electricity tariffs and licensing.
OGRA: oil and gas.
PTA: telecommunications.
PEMRA: electronic media.
Competition Commission of Pakistan: competition and anti-cartel enforcement.
DRAP: drugs and medicines.
PPRA: public procurement.

Quality of regulators in Pakistan

Challenges: political interference, weak technical capacity, regulatory capture, delays in decisions, overlapping powers between federal and provincial bodies, and frequent litigation against regulators' decisions.
Excessive regulations, multiple taxes and complex procedures raise the cost of doing business.
Positive steps: one-window facilities, digital company registration, and the Special Investment Facilitation Council (2023) to speed investment decisions.

Way forward

Guarantee regulators' independence, with merit-based appointments and secure tenure.
Simplify and digitize regulations and use regulatory impact assessments.
Strengthen competition enforcement.
Harmonize federal and provincial regulations.

Note

Pakistan's figures here are approximate recent ranges; check the latest annual release of the Worldwide Governance Indicators for exact values.