IMF mission to visit country for biannual loan review in early March: Aurangzeb – Business

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday confirmed that an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission will visit Pakistan in early March for its biannual review of the $7 billion bailout deal.

Pakis­tan and the IMF had reached a three-year, $7 billion aid package deal in July, with the new programme set to allow the country to “cement macroeconomic stability and create conditions for stronger, more inclusive and resilient growth”.

The ongoing 37-month Extended Funded Facility programme consists of six reviews over the life of the bailout, and the release of the next tranche of approximately $1bn will be contingent on the success of the performance review.

Raising the tax-to-GDP ratio is crucial for Pakistan’s $7bn loan deal to stabilise its economy and manage debt. In 2024, the salaried class became the third-largest income tax contributor, trailing banks and petroleum but surpassing textile exporters.

While speaking to reporters, Aurangzeb confirmed that the team will assess the federal government’s progress on key conditions.

“Reforms in the FBR [Federal Bureau of Revenue] will continue with the same spirit and determination,” he highlighted.

He also stated that the country’s border control will be “tightened”, adding that sugar smuggling on the country’s border with Afghanistan was successfully stopped.

A separate technical mission from the IMF has also arrived in Islamabad today on Pakistan’s request for over $1bn in additional financing for climate resilience.

Pakistan has been ranked as the most vulnerable country to climate change in 2022 when it faced devastating monsoon floods that claimed over 1,700 lives, washed away swathes of agricultural land, affected 33 million people, and incurred losses worth $33bn, according to governmental estimates.

The country had requested $1bn from IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RSF) in October, the minister had revealed during his visit to Washington then.