Aurangzeb opens IMF talks on Pakistan's fourth EFF review

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb held a kick-off meeting with an International Monetary Fund mission on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance. The ministry said the mission, led by Iva Petrova, is in Islamabad for the fourth review of Pakistan's Extended Fund Facility arrangement and the third review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility.

Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan Jameel Ahmad, Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue Rashid Langrial and Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani also took part in the virtual meeting, the ministry said. An IMF staff mission arrived in Pakistan last week to begin negotiations.

The government told the visiting mission on Monday that the Gulf War and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz had caused revenue loss in the first quarter and slowed down economic activities, according to the account given by the authorities. The government also said around 10,000 federal government employees would be required to digitally declare their movable and immovable assets by 30 October 2026 as part of a mandatory asset declaration regime.

Pakistan's Extended Fund Facility was approved by the IMF's Executive Board in the last week of September 2024. The 37-month bailout programme is valued at approximately $7 billion (SDR 5,320 million). Pakistan formally inquired about a Resilience and Sustainability Facility arrangement in October 2024, and a staff-level agreement for a new 28-month arrangement under the RSF, totalling about $1.3 billion, was reached on 25 March 2025, concurrently with the first EFF review.

Any staff-level agreement on the fourth EFF review and third RSF review would be subject to approval by the IMF's Executive Board. Upon approval, Pakistan will have access to about $1 billion under the EFF and $200 million under the RSF. Pakistan has already received $4.8 billion under the two arrangements.