ISLAMABA: Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday reached a Staff-Level Agreement (SLA) on the fourth review of the 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the third review of the 28-month Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), paving the way for Pakistan to access about $1.2 billion from the Fund’s resources.
The staff-level agreement is subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board and upon approval, Pakistan will have access to about US$1.0 billion (SDR 760 million) under the EFF and about US$210 million (SDR 154 million) under the RSF, bringing total disbursements under the two arrangements to about US$5.7 billion.
IMF staff and the Pakistani authorities held discussions under the 2026 Article IV consultation said IMF press statement issued here Thursday.
The fund said, program implementation under the EFF has remained broadly on track despite a challenging external environment.
It said, the government remains committed to preserving macroeconomic stability, strengthening public finances, ensuring that inflation returns durably to the State Bank of Pakistan’s target range, enhancing energy sector viability, strengthening social protection, and accelerating reforms to foster sustainable, private sector-led, and inclusive growth.
Pakistan also continued to advance their climate reform agenda under the RSF to strengthen Pakistan’s resilience and reduce vulnerabilities to climate-related risks, it added.
It is pertinent to mention, the IMF team, led by Ms. Iva Petrova, held discussions with Pakistani authorities from September 23 to October 7, 2026.
The statement said, supported by the EFF, Pakistan has successfully navigated the impact of the Middle East conflict, and strong policies have helped preserve macroeconomic stability.
The press statement said, real GDP growth reached 4 percent in the first three quarters of FY26, and although higher energy prices and supply disruptions weakened somewhat the momentum, FY26 growth is estimated at 3.6 percent.
Headline inflation, after peaking in May, moderated to about 10.3 percent in September, while core inflation remained contained.
The current account was broadly balanced in FY26 supported by strong remittances, and gross reserves rose to about US$21.5 billion by end-September. Sovereign rating upgrades and renewed international market access also point to stronger policy credibility. Nevertheless, risks remain high, particularly from geopolitical tensions, volatile energy prices, tighter global financial conditions, and trade disruptions.
The statement said, the Article IV consultation focused on reforms to support the structural transformation of the economy to higher value-added activities and reduce gaps relative to peer countries in key areas, including by strengthening competition, reducing regulatory and trade barriers, advancing privatization, enhancing SOE governance and transparency, and strengthening governance and anti-corruption institutions.
Together with efforts to introduce a simpler and fairer tax system, allocate greater public resources toward human and capital development, ensure a more cost efficient energy sector, and deepen financial markets, these reforms are critical to raise productivity, increase labor force participation and job creation, and support private investment and exports.
Supported by the RSF, Pakistan is continuing efforts to strengthen resilience to climate change, with recent progress in mainstreaming climate considerations into public investment planning and strengthening disaster risk financing and coordination.
Further reforms are advancing on irrigation water pricing and collection, better-targeted electricity subsidies, energy-efficiency standards, and transport decarbonization.
“The IMF team is grateful to the Pakistani authorities, private sector, and development partners for their hospitality during the visit to Islamabad and Karachi, and for fruitful discussions,” it added.
