IMF Completes Third Review of Pakistan's Bailout, Cites Strong Fiscal Performance

The IMF's Executive Board completed the third review of Pakistan's 37-month Extended Fund Facility programme in May, alongside the second review of a related climate-resilience arrangement, citing strong fiscal performance and reserve rebuilding that exceeded earlier projections.

The headline fiscal number

Pakistan is expected to post a primary surplus — government revenue exceeding non-interest spending — of 1.6% of GDP for the current fiscal year, a figure the IMF pointed to as evidence of genuine fiscal discipline rather than one-off improvement.

What else the review found

GDP growth accelerated in the first half of the fiscal year, inflation remained contained, the current account was broadly balanced, and foreign exchange reserve rebuilding outpaced what had been projected at the programme's outset — a combination the IMF described as meaningful progress in economic stabilization.

What's due by the end of August

Several specific reform commitments are targeted for completion by end-August 2026, including revising Pakistan's public investment methodology to weight climate considerations more heavily, publishing corrected import statistics after discrepancies were identified in trade data, and finalizing a new centralized tax audit selection system.

Why continued IMF review matters for ordinary Pakistanis

Programme reviews aren't just a formality — passing them unlocks continued IMF disbursements and signals to other lenders and investors that Pakistan's reform commitments are being met, which affects borrowing costs and investor confidence well beyond the IMF relationship itself.