ISLAMABAD: The Inte­r­national Monetary Fund (IMF) has scheduled a meeting of its executive board on May 8 to approve the disbursement of more than $1.21 billion to Paki­stan under two concurrent programmes, including the $7bn Extended Fund Faci­lity (EFF) and the Resi­lience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

Pakistan has qualified for the release of about $1bn following the successful completion of the third review under the EFF and around $210 million under the second review of the RSF.

The IMF had announced on March 27 that it had reached a staff-level agreement (SLA) with Pakistan for the disbursement of about $1.2bn upon successful completion of the third EFF review and the second RSF review.

Since then, both sides have been engaged in discussions on fuel pricing adjustments and the phasing out of subsidies to meet the petroleum levy target of Rs1.468 trillion for the current fiscal year. The levy collection has already exceeded Rs1.2tr

during the first nine months of the fiscal year, despite the government’s claims of subsidising diesel prices, and is set to surpass the annual target with ease in the remaining months.

However, the government is still considering further increases in the petroleum levy on petrol or its revival on diesel to offset the shortfall in Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) revenues. It was against this background that the IMF has consistently advised phasing out fuel subsidies.

Pakistan has also been discussing with the IMF flexibility in programme contours that would be finalised as part of next year’s budget. The finance minister has recently announced that Pakistan is committed to fiscal discipline while seeking flexibility in light of evolving global and regional challenges.

While announcing the SLA on March 27, the IMF said programme implementation by Pakistan under the EFF remained broadly aligned with the authorities’ objectives to strengthen public finances, ensure inflation remains durably within the State Bank of Pakistan’s target range, advance reforms to improve the viability of the energy sector, and deepen structural reforms, while strengthening social protection and rebuilding health and education spending.

The authorities’ climate reform agenda, backed by the RSF, is progressing, and they remain committed to implementing comprehensive reforms and policies to enhance resilience and reduce vulnerabilities to climate-related risks. The talks were held in Karachi and Islamabad from Feb 25 to March 2 and virtually afterwards.

According to the IMF mission chief, Iva Petrova, subject to IMF board approval, Pakistan will have access to about $1bn (SDR 760m) under the EFF and about US$210m (SDR 154m) under the RSF, bringing total disbursements under the two arrangements to about $4.5bn.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2026