IMF, Pakistan make ‘significant progress’ toward reaching Staff Level Agreement

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Pakistani authorities made ‘significant progress’ toward reaching a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) on the first review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), said IMF mission chief Nathan Porter in a statement Saturday.

An IMF team, led by Nathan Porter, visited Islamabad and Karachi from February 24 to March 14, 2025, to hold discussions on the first review of Pakistan’s economic program supported by the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and on a possible new arrangement under the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

At the conclusion of the discussions, Porter issued the following statement:

“The IMF and the Pakistani authorities made significant progress toward reaching a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) on the first review under the 37-month Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

“Program implementation has been strong, and the discussions have made considerable progress in several areas including the planned fiscal consolidation to durably reduce public debt, maintenance of sufficiently tight monetary policy to maintain low inflation, acceleration of cost-reducing reforms to improve energy sector viability, and implementation of Pakistan’s structural reform agenda to accelerate growth, while strengthening social protection and rebuilding health and education spending.

“Progress has also been made in discussions on the authorities’ climate reform agenda, which aims to reduce vulnerabilities from natural disasters-related risks, and accompanying reforms which could be supported under a possible arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

“The mission and the authorities will continue policy discussions virtually to finalize these discussions over the coming days.

“The IMF team is grateful to the Pakistani authorities, private sector, and development partners for fruitful discussions and their hospitality throughout this mission,” it concluded.

The IMF mission and Pakistani authorities on Friday concluded talks on the first review of the $7 billion EFF programme.

Following the completion of the ongoing discussions, the IMF staff will finalize its recommendations for the Executive Board’s review, a prerequisite for Board approval for the release of the USD 1 billion tranche.