ISLAMABAD: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff mission has reportedly arrived in Pakistan to start negotiations for the fourth review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and third review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), official sources told Business Recorder.
Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani had earlier this month indicated that talks with the Fund were likely to commence on September 23.
Business Recorder approached the Finance Ministry, State Bank of Pakistan and the IMF Resident Representative in Pakistan for confirmation of the mission’s arrival; however, no official confirmation was received till the filing of this report.
READ MORE: IMF mission to visit Pakistan ‘in coming weeks’ for next review
According to the sources, the IMF team will undertake a comprehensive assessment of Pakistan’s economic performance and hold discussions with the authorities on the fourth EFF review, third RSF review and the Article IV consultation. The negotiations are expected to continue for around two weeks, with the review covering economic developments and programme performance up to June 2026.
The discussions are likely to focus on the government’s performance against agreed programme targets, including structural benchmarks, tax reforms and measures in the power and gas sectors, besides other fiscal, monetary and structural issues.
After IMF staff and the Pakistani authorities reach a staff-level agreement (SLA) on the fourth review under the EFF and the third review under the RSF, the agreement will be subject to approval of the IMF’s Executive Board. Upon approval, Pakistan will have access to about USD 1 billion under the EFF and USD 200 million under the RSF. Pakistan has already received USD 4.8 billion under the two arrangements.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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