IMF team lands in Pakistan for economic review talks

A delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has landed in Pakistan to discuss the country’s economic performance under the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

The IMF mission will begin technical talks with officials of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), sources in the Finance Ministry said. The first round of talks will be held on current account, policy rate and exchange rate while SBP officials will update the delegation on economic performance of the country.

Pakistan will also advise the IMF team on its foreign currency reserves, which have crossed the $17 billion level and an increase in foreign direct investment. The delegation will be informed about the successful issuance of the Eurobond and funds received from external sources.

The IMF mission will then go to Islamabad to meet with the Finance Ministry, Federal Board of Revenue, Ministry of Energy and other relevant departments after meetings with the State Bank.

The discussions are planned to take place over a period of around two weeks and will include economic developments and program performance up to June 2026. The discussions will also focus on fundamental benchmarks and milestones tied to Pakistan’s economic reform program.

The assessment will look at, among other things, improvements in the energy sector. Targets in circular debt in the electricity and gas sectors, as well as other structural and budgetary measures are likely to be discussed by the two parties.

Recent reporting suggests that a successful evaluation might make Pakistan eligible for roughly $1 billion under the EFF and another $200 million under the RSF, bringing the potential combined payment to some $1.2 billion.

Pakistan entered the $7 billion, 37-month EFF program in September 2024. These talks are the fourth review of the EFF and the third review under the RSF.