The IMF on Tuesday began formal discussions with Pakistan’s economic officials to review the implementation of a $7 billion loan and a $1.1 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).The review comes as Pakistan’s performance under the programme up to June 2025 has been uneven, Dawn reported according to news agency PTI.Although the power sector targets for the end of June 2025 were achieved, revenue collection lagged by around Rs 1.2 trillion, nearly 1% of GDP, in the last fiscal year, with the first two months of the current year showing similar shortfalls.The IMF (International Monetary Fund) mission held its opening meeting on Monday with finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and a delegation that included the state bank governor, finance secretary, and federal board of revenue chairman.The delegation will be staying in Pakistan for nearly two weeks, during which they will review the progress of the $7 billion Extended Financing Facility (EFF) and the $1.1 billion RSF. Officials from both sides are expected to discuss corrective measures to meet the upcoming biannual targets, ending in December 2025.Pakistan is also seeking IMF support to accelerate the long-delayed brownfield petroleum refinery policy. The stalled upgrades have held back around $6 billion in fresh investment for upgrading refineries.Officials argue that the move is in line with the RSF’s goals, as the upgrades would allow production of petroleum products that meet European standards with lower carbon and sulphur emissions.The IMF mission will also hold forward-looking talks with authorities to push for faster implementation of the remaining targets, the report added.
About the Author
