IMF Review: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is set to review Pakistan’s progress on governance and corruption reforms, with talks scheduled to begin on March 2, 2026. The discussions are crucial for the release of the next loan tranches amounting to $1.2 billion.
Led by Mission Chief Iva Petrova, the IMF team will first engage with the State Bank of Pakistan in Karachi before moving to Islamabad for meetings with federal and provincial officials. The agenda includes sensitive issues such as governance, corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion.
The Governance and Corruption Diagnostic report and the National Fiscal Pact are central to the review. The latter aims to decentralize expenditures to provinces and expand the tax base, but implementation has been delayed.
Federal authorities are tasked with empowering provincial anti-corruption agencies to tackle money laundering, while a national corruption risk assessment is underway, expected to be completed by June.
The outcome of these talks will determine whether the IMF dispatches a technical assistance mission to Pakistan, a move the government has resisted. Successful reform implementation is crucial for Pakistan’s economic stability.
Published in SouthAsianDesk, February 18th, 2026
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