Overview

• An IMF mission concluded talks in Karachi and Islamabad on October 8 without reaching a staff-level agreement, though the Fund praised strong program implementation.
• The IMF set a deadline this month for Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee to abolish two schemes and tighten a third as part of prior actions.
• Discussions focused on sustaining fiscal consolidation, keeping inflation within target through tight, data-driven monetary policy, and restoring energy-sector viability via regular tariff adjustments and cost-cutting reforms.
• Talks also covered shrinking the state’s footprint, strengthening governance and transparency, liberalising the business environment and commodity markets, and advancing climate-related reforms under the RSF.
• Pakistan’s economic team will attend the IMF–World Bank meetings in Washington on October 13–18, where the Fund is expected to announce the review’s next steps tied to future disbursements.