Easing the Transition to Commercial Finance for Sustainable Water and Sanitation

This report calls for countries to place a greater priority on leveraging commercial finance into the sector while at the same time bolstering public funds for the sector. The question is not whether to finance with public or private money. More of both will be needed—and sooner rather than later. This will require a transition to a more balanced mix of public and commercial financing, which must be driven by changing mindsets across all sector stakeholders: central governments, local governments, customers, donors and financiers. The proposed framework advocates a transition that uses public funds to leverage commercial finance.