IMF mission due on Sept 23 for biannual review of Pakistan’s economic performance

On September 23, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission is scheduled to arrive in Pakistan for a biannual assessment of the nation's economic performance and the execution of two crucial $7 billion and $1.4 billion facilities. The mission, headed by Iva Petrova, will spend nearly two weeks in the country, culminating in early October.

During their visit, the IMF staff mission will conduct the fourth review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the third review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). The team will kick off the visit with technical discussions at the State Bank of Pakistan, followed by consultations with government sectoral teams and an initial meeting with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.

One of the key objectives of this review is to evaluate the government's capacity to meet its first-ever half-yearly revenue collection target under the IMF program. This is particularly important given the history of large annual revenue shortfalls. Moreover, this review marks the first time after provincial governments have transferred more than Rs1.035 trillion of their National Finance Commission (NFC) shares to the Center, in addition to a separate Rs1.8 trillion cash surplus.

Overall, while most of the program's performance has been on track as of June 2026, there have been notable shortcomings in areas such as economic governance reforms. Only a small number of targets out of over 30 set by the prime minister have been met, following a critical assessment of corruption issues. Despite these challenges, Pakistan is currently under an IMF program worth $7 billion, designed to stabilize the economy through fiscal discipline, structural reforms, and long-term growth initiatives.