IMF mission begins review of Pakistan’s $7 billion EFF programme

Profit by Pakistan Today reported that an IMF team will sit down with State Bank of Pakistan officials on Wednesday, launching talks on the fourth review of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility. Inflation, monetary policy and the exchange rate are set to dominate those discussions, which will take place in Karachi during the week. The mission then travels to Islamabad on September 28 to meet finance ministry officials, the Federal Board of Revenue and other ministries.

The Islamabad leg is expected to go ahead only if conditions in the federal capital remain normal. The review will cover the fourth EFF review, the third Resilience and Sustainability Facility review and an Article IV consultation, covering economic developments through June 2026. It is expected to last around two weeks, testing the government's performance against agreed targets, such as structural benchmarks and tax reforms, along with power and gas sector measures.

A staff-level agreement on the two reviews would still need approval from the IMF Executive Board before Pakistan could draw roughly $1 billion under the EFF plus $200 million under the RSF. To date, Pakistan has received about $4.8 billion through both arrangements. The Article IV findings are to go to the Executive Board and be published with the review report once the fourth review is complete.