IMF Board to Consider Pakistan’s EFF Program on May 9

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is slated to convene on May 9 to deliberate on Pakistan’s first review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program. The meeting will also address requests for adjustments to performance criteria and a request for an arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility.

The discussions will encompass the initial review of the $7 billion EFF program alongside a fresh $1.3 billion arrangement within the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). Provided the Executive Board grants its approval, Pakistan stands to gain access to approximately $1 billion (SDR 760 million) through the EFF. This would elevate the total disbursements under the program to about $2 billion.

Furthermore, the nation is poised to unlock $1.3 billion via a novel climate resilience loan initiative, designed to span 28 months.

An IMF delegation, spearheaded by Nathan Porter, engaged in dialogues throughout a mission to Karachi and Islamabad from February 24 to March 14, 2025, and continued virtually thereafter. These discussions centered on the first review of Pakistan’s economic program, backed by the EFF, and on a prospective arrangement under the IMF’s RSF.

On March 25, 2025, the IMF communicated that Pakistani authorities and the IMF team had achieved a staff-level agreement on an extensive program, endorsed by both the federal and provincial governments. This program could be supported by a 37-month EFF, amounting to $7 billion.

The IMF has articulated that the program is geared towards leveraging the macroeconomic stability, reinforcing public finances, curbing inflation, rebuilding external buffers, and eliminating economic distortions to stimulate private sector growth.