An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission will arrive in Islamabad next week to discuss around $1 billion in climate financing for Pakistan, an adviser to the country’s finance minister said on Thursday.
Khurram Schehzad told Reuters that the delegation will visit from February 24 to 28 for a “review and discussion” of climate resilience funding.
The financing will be provided under the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust, established in 2022 to offer long-term concessional support for climate-related spending, including adaptation and clean energy transition projects. Pakistan formally requested the funds in October last year to address its vulnerability to climate change.
The country remains on a slow path to economic recovery after securing a $7 billion IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) last year.
Schehzad confirmed that another IMF mission will arrive in Pakistan in the first week of March for the first review of the EFF program.
Addressing the Retail Business Council on Thursday, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb also confirmed that an IMF mission will arrive in Pakistan on February 24 to negotiate the release of $1 to $1.5 billion in climate financing.
The finance minister also mentioned that a second IMF mission is scheduled for March, which will conduct a comprehensive six-month review of the ongoing program.
The Global Climate Risk Index ranks Pakistan among the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries. The 2022 floods, which scientists attributed to global warming, impacted at least 33 million people and claimed over 1,700 lives.
Pakistan’s economic challenges and high debt burden have strained its ability to respond to such disasters effectively.
