Overview
- Pakistan reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF that could unlock roughly $1.2 billion under its Extended Fund Facility and climate program pending Executive Board approval.
- Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has presented a privatisation pipeline of five to six state entities expected to raise more than $1 billion and has taken the chairmanship of the Borrowers’ Platform to deepen engagement with lenders.
- The government is negotiating a proposed $10 billion exchange stabilisation facility with the United States and is in talks with US EXIM and the DFC for additional support.
- The IMF is pushing energy-sector reforms that include electricity and gas tariff rationalisation, removal of cross-subsidies, and tighter targeting of household support, measures that critics warn could raise costs for many families.
- Official data cited by commentators show rising hardship and inequality, with poverty and the Gini coefficient up in recent years, underscoring the challenge of balancing short-term stabilisation with durable growth and social protection.