Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are scheduled to begin negotiations on September 25, sources said, as several structural benchmarks under the IMF program remain unfulfilled. The Ministry of Finance confirmed that the required policy action plan for the privatization of electricity distribution companies has not yet been finalized, leaving a key IMF benchmark incomplete.
According to officials, five out of 22 structural benchmarks were unmet at the time of the recent economic review. Among these, the publication of the Corruption and Governance Diagnostic Assessment Report is still pending. Amendments to the State-Owned Enterprises Act have not been completed, and revising the Sovereign Wealth Funds law is also on the IMF’s agenda.
In addition, the redrafting of the Public Finance Management Act, a condition highlighted in Ministry of Finance documents, remains unfulfilled. These pending measures form part of the broader structural reforms required by the IMF for continued program support.
