KARACHI: Pakistan is continuing with macroeconomic reforms, its finance chief said on Tuesday, as a visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation formally kicked off the country’s economic review under a $7 billion loan program.
This is the first review carried out by the IMF since Pakistan secured the loan under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). A nine-member mission of the global lending agency, led by Nathan Porter, landed in the country a day earlier to assess Pakistan’s economic performance before the disbursement of a $1.1 billion tranche.
Pakistan’s macroeconomic indicators have gradually improved since it secured the IMF bailout last year. The country’s consumer price index maintained a downward trend last month, hitting a more than 9-year low at 1.51 percent year-on-year in February.
Pakistan’s current account also recorded a surplus of $729 million in November 2024, marking the fourth consecutive month of surplus.
“[The] macroeconomic stability has been achieved in the country, and structural reforms are ongoing,” Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb said at an event in Islamabad.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan’s finance ministry released photos showing Aurangzeb, his economic team and the IMF delegation, led by Nathan Porter, holding a meeting.
A successful review and subsequent approvals can take a few weeks before the Washington-based lender releases the funds. However, Pakistan’s finance chief told Reuters his country was “well positioned” to discuss its performance with the visiting IMF team, with which it is expected to hold both technical and policy level talks in the coming days.
According to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, the IMF team has expressed concerns about Pakistan’s slow tax collection rate against the required target of Rs1.3 trillion ($4.65 billion) until June. The tax collection is likely to fall short by about Rs600 ($2.15 billion).
However, the newspaper noted, the international lender might look the other way, given the rest of the positive macroeconomic indicators, including a higher-than-expected budget surplus the debt-ridden nation is expected to show in its fiscal plan in June.
“Except for revenue collections, Pakistan has achieved most of its quarterly quantitative targets,” Mohammed Sohail, chief executive officer at Topline Securities, said while speaking to Arab News.
“The IMF may insist on increasing and broadening taxes in the coming budget,” he added.
One of the IMF’s requirements for Pakistan is to privatize loss-making state-owned enterprises, including the national airline and power distribution companies.
The process to sell off such enterprises has already begun, with the government having hired a financial adviser, according to Business Recorder newspaper.
Citing unnamed officials at the power division, the English-language daily said all power sector benchmarks agreed upon with the IMF were progressing as planned.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday slammed Israel for blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, saying there could be “no greater oppression” than this.
Israel blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza on Sunday as a standoff over the truce that has halted fighting for the past six weeks escalated. The blockade is likely to add significant pressure on the two million Palestinians who are still suffering from shortages of essential goods following 16 months of war.
Speaking at a special meeting of the federal cabinet, Sharif said the month of Ramadan teaches Muslims to serve humanity and be kind to people who are less privileged, and requires them to express solidarity with Palestine, where Israel’s war had killed more than 50,000 people.
“I believe there can be no greater oppression than blocking food and aid supplies to Gaza in Ramadan despite a ceasefire,” he said. “We are to raise our voice on this.”
Sharif’s statement came hours after Pakistan’s foreign office criticized Israel for blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza, calling it a blatant violation of law and urging the international community to hold the Jewish state accountable for collectively punishing millions of civilians. 
“This latest action is part of Israel’s systematic campaign to deny much needed humanitarian aid to millions of Palestinians in dire need. This constitutes yet another blatant violation of international law by the occupying power and could imperil the ceasefire agreement,” it said.
Israel, while announcing the halt to aid entry, said it will not allow a ceasefire without the release of all remaining hostages. Hamas has denounced Israel’s move as “blackmail” and a “blatant coup against the agreement.”
Israel’s war on Gaza began after Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on Oct.7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people and over 200 others were taken into Gaza as hostages. The subsequent Israeli campaign killed around 50,000 Palestinians and displaced almost all of Gaza’s 2 million population, leaving the territory a wasteland.
Both sides agreed to an uneasy, six-week truce on Jan. 19 which paved the way for the release of hostages from both sides. Israel’s move to block humanitarian aid to Gaza has renewed fears among the international community that the fighting could reignite.
“We also reiterate our call for the full implementation of the agreement to secure a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza as well as the revival of a political process to achieve the two-state solution,” the Pakistani foreign office said.