An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission that visited Pakistan earlier this month to assess the governance and corruption vulnerabilities appreciated the government’s commitment towards such exercise stating that it looks to continue its collaboration.
In a statement released on its website, the IMF said that its “scoping mission visited Islamabad from February 6 to 14, 2025, to lay the groundwork for a Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment (GCD) at the request of the Government of Pakistan”.
“The focus of the mission was to preliminarily assess governance and corruption vulnerabilities across six core state functions. These include fiscal governance, central bank governance and operations, financial sector oversight, market regulation, rule of law, and anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML-CFT),” read the statement.
Throughout the mission, the IMF team engaged with the Finance Division, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Auditor General of Pakistan, Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), and Ministry of Law & Justice, and the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
In addition, the IMF team met with a range of other stakeholders, including business associations, civil society organizations, and international development partners.
“The IMF appreciates the commitment of the Government of Pakistan to this exercise and looks forward to continuing our collaboration,” it said.
The lender added that its team for the GCD assessment will return to Pakistan later this year to continue gathering information and exploring opportunities to strengthen governance, integrity, and economic outcomes in preparation for the eventual assessment.
Earlier it was learnt that an IMF mission will arrive in Islamabad in early to mid-March for discussions around the first review under Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme.
“An IMF staff team is scheduled to visit Pakistan in early to mid-March for discussions around the first review under Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility-supported program and the authorities’ request for assistance under a Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangement.
“In this regard, a technical team will be in Pakistan starting in late February to discuss technical issues related to a possible RSF arrangement,” read a statement released by the Washington-based lender.
Cash-strapped Pakistan is currently under a $7 billion IMF bailout program and navigating a tricky path to recovery.
The South Asian nation narrowly averted a sovereign debt default, with reserves insufficient to meet a month’s worth of controlled imports.
A successful review would pave the way for the Washington-based lender’s release of around $1 billion tranche.
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