IMF lauds Pakistan’s reforms ahead of Feb 25 EFF, RSF reviews

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Pakistan’s reform efforts under its programme have helped stabilise the economy and rebuild confidence, citing improved fiscal discipline and stronger external accounts.

“Pakistan’s policy efforts under the EFF (Extended Fund Facility) have helped stabilise the economy and rebuild confidence,” said IMF Director of Communications, Julie Kozack, while responding to a question.

She said that Pakistan’s fiscal performance has been strong.

“Pakistan currently has a primary fiscal surplus of 1.3% of GDP in fiscal year 2025, which was in line with program targets. Headline inflation has been relatively contained, and Pakistan posted its first current account surplus in 14 years in fiscal year 2025.

“And also, maybe just to highlight that the Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Report was recently published, and it includes proposals for reforms, including simplifying tax policy design, levelling the playing field for public procurement, and improving the asset declaration transparency,” she added.

Pakistan set to meet almost all IMF QPCs ahead of February review: Topline

Kozack said that Pakistan remains under an EFF arrangement.  “We do have a staff team that is expected to visit Pakistan starting February 25th for discussions on the third review under the EFF and the second review under the RSF,” she added.

The IMF team will visit Pakistan for the third review of the EFF and the second review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). The review will assess the performance of the assigned criteria and targets for September 2025 and December 2025.

Pakistan seeks to meet conditions under its $7 billion EFF programme, which is designed to help countries address deep‑seated economic weaknesses and medium‑term balance‑of‑payments problems.

Previously, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told the media after the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue meeting that there is no shortfall in external financing.

Days ago, Topline Securities in its report said Pakistan is likely to meet nearly all seven Quantitative Performance Criteria (QPCs) set under its ongoing IMF programme.