The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission has begun discussions with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for the fourth review of Pakistan’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme.
The talks began in Karachi on Wednesday, with discussions expected to focus on inflation, monetary policy and the exchange rate. The IMF mission will remain in Karachi during the week before moving to Islamabad on September 28 for meetings with the Ministry of Finance, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and other government ministries.
The review will cover the fourth EFF review, the third review under the $2 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), as well as the IMF’s Article IV consultation. The overall process is expected to continue for around two weeks and will assess Pakistan’s economic developments and programme performance through June 2026.
The discussions will examine the government’s progress against agreed programme targets, including structural benchmarks and tax reforms. Measures related to the power and gas sectors, along with fiscal, monetary and other structural issues, will also be reviewed.
The Article IV consultation will assess Pakistan’s broader economic conditions and policy framework. Its findings are expected to be presented to the IMF Executive Board and later published with the IMF’s review report.
Pakistan and IMF staff will also seek to reach a staff-level agreement on the fourth EFF review and third RSF review. Any agreement will require approval from the IMF Executive Board.
If approved, Pakistan could receive around $1 billion under the EFF and another $200 million through the RSF. Pakistan has already received approximately $4.8 billion under the two arrangements.
