IMF Mission to Visit Pakistan for Economic Review Later This Month
Islamabad: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission is scheduled to visit Pakistan later this month to review the country’s economic progress under its ongoing financial assistance programs.
The IMF delegation, led by Iva Petrova, is expected to arrive in Pakistan on September 23, 2026, and remain in the country for nearly two weeks, with discussions likely to continue until the first week of October.
The visit will cover the fourth review of Pakistan’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the third review under the $1.4 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). The assessment will cover Pakistan’s economic performance for the period ending June 30, 2026.
Discussions to Begin at State Bank
The review process is expected to begin with technical-level discussions at the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The IMF team will subsequently hold meetings with relevant government departments and officials.
An initial meeting with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is also expected as part of the mission’s schedule.
FBR Revenue Target Under Focus
One of the major areas of discussion will be the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) tax collection performance.
The IMF is expected to assess whether the tax authority has met the first-half revenue collection structural benchmark agreed under the program. FBR’s performance has remained a key issue, particularly as the authority has faced challenges in achieving its annual tax collection targets.
The mission will also examine Pakistan’s fiscal position as of the end of June 2026. While several fiscal and monetary indicators were broadly aligned with program targets, the country also experienced a notable revenue shortfall along with some policy-related deviations.
Commodity Market Intervention to Be Reviewed
Another issue likely to come under discussion is government involvement in commodity operations, particularly related to wheat and sugar.
Such interventions could attract attention during the review because the IMF program includes conditions aimed at limiting direct government involvement in commodity market operations.
The IMF is expected to assess these developments alongside Pakistan’s broader fiscal and economic policy commitments.
Economic Governance Reforms
Progress on economic governance and anti-corruption reforms will also be part of the review.
Official assessments indicate that only a limited number of the targets established for the January-June 2026 period were completed. These reforms were linked to recommendations from an IMF governance and corruption diagnostic assessment.
Pakistan has taken steps toward improving transparency in procurement involving state-owned enterprises. However, concerns remain over the continued use of direct contracting with state-owned entities without open competitive bidding.
Potential Financing After Successful Reviews
Pakistan and the IMF are expected to discuss both the country’s previous performance and its plans for implementing the remaining commitments under the program.
If the reviews are successfully completed, Pakistan could potentially receive around $1 billion under the EFF and an additional $200 million under the RSF by the end of November or early December.
The upcoming mission follows comments made by IMF Pakistan representative Mahir Binici in July. He had said that Pakistan’s performance under the 2024 EFF program had remained strong and that the country had implemented significant economic reforms.
The latest review will therefore be important for assessing Pakistan’s progress on fiscal management, revenue collection, economic governance and other commitments agreed with the IMF.
