IMF asks for SOE law changes before board meeting

According to The Express Tribune, the IMF has criticised the continued delay in amending several state-owned enterprise laws and has asked Pakistan to complete the changes before its board meeting. The fund's main worry centres on Wapda, the Water and Power Development Authority, which lacks a workable governance framework. Pakistan has missed a fourth deadline to align 9 to 10 SOE laws with the main SOE Act, and each time it sought a new date, the latest being August 2026.

Government sources indicated that the fund now expects the SOE statutes to match the main law before mid-November. A November board meeting could approve a $1 billion tranche under the Extended Fund Facility, provided talks conclude successfully. So far the fund has released $4.2 billion of its $7 billion package, and the government has ignored similar deadlines before. This week the fund also reviewed amendments to the National Bank of Pakistan law.

An IMF condition requires changes to the NAB Ordinance to reach parliament next January, aimed at making the chairman's appointment transparent. Authorities must also produce a method for assessing corruption risk by the end of October. The IMF has voiced concern over delays to the Sovereign Wealth Fund law, whose deadline was extended to March 2026, and the proposed changes are now with the Senate Standing Committee on Finance.