IMF praises Pakistan’s economic stability ahead of key reviews in February

2026-02-20 - 04:23

WASHINGTON – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has acknowledged the positive strides made by Pakistan’s economy under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program ahead of the third review later this month. IMF’s Director of Communications, Julie Kozik, highlighted this development during a press briefing in Washington. Kozik confirmed that an IMF delegation will visit Pakistan starting February 25, 2026, for the third review under the $7 billion EFF program and the second review under the $1.3 Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). In her remarks, Kozik emphasized that Pakistan’s policy adjustments under the EFF have contributed to the stabilization of its economy. She further noted that the country’s fiscal performance remained strong in fiscal year 2025, with a primary fiscal surplus of 1.3% of GDP, aligning with the targets set in the IMF program. She also pointed out that inflation in Pakistan has been kept under control, and the country managed to achieve a current account surplus for the first time in 14 years during fiscal year 2025. The remarks may lift sentiments of investors in today’s session of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as it suffered worst-ever single day decline on Thursday. The benchmark KSE-100 Index witnessed a bearish trend, losing 6,682.81 points, a negative change of 3.74 percent, to close at 172,170.29 points compared to 178,853.10 points on the previous trading day, according to PSX data. During the session, the ready market recorded a trading volume of 542.979 million shares with a traded value of Rs 27.363 billion, against 697.682 million shares valuing Rs 49.992 billion in the previous session. Market capitalization decreased to Rs 19.514 trillion from Rs 20.227 trillion a day earlier.