The required tariff was accurately estimated at appraisal and was made a loan covenant to assure the Wuhan Urban Drainage Development Company's (WUDDC) financial autonomy. During project implementation, the tariff was adjusted but was still insufficient to achieve the goal set for the WUDDC. The delay in the tariff increase was not only due to lack of support from relevant government agencies, but mainly because of the Wuhan municipal government's (WMG) concerns on social stabilities caused by inflation and overall prices increases in recent years. As the top concerns of the central and local governments, the governments in most cases subsidize wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) from the government budget to ensure the operations of the WWTPs. The objective of a tariff increase has not yet been achieved to date, so there is a need to further strengthen policy dialogue on the tariff increases for the future achievement of full cost recovery for wastewater services.
Wuhan Wastewater Management