ISLAMABAD: The government carried out more than 650 governance reforms, across 135 federal ministries, divisions and affiliated institutions during the previous year, according to a new report.

The Pakistan Reforms Report 2026, unveiled in the capital on Monday, sho­wed that the country’s foc­us had shifted from crisis stabilisation to long-term state capacity, with the energy sector leading the tally with 118 reforms ena­cted, followed by the legal sector with 96, and digital governance and IT in third place with 74 initiatives.

According to a statement from Mishal Pakistan — the organisation behind the report — it aims to document changes in governance to help stakeholders understand how systems are changing, how reforms are being institutionalised, and how these changes may shape citizens’ lives and state capacity over time.

The authors make it clear that this is not a performance evaluation or political scorecard, rather, the report situates reforms within the challenging context of 2025, marked by fiscal pressures, regional security dynamics, internal insurgencies, and geopolitical tensions.

Despite these constraints, reform momentum remained intact, particularly in digitisation, institutional coordination, and regulatory modernisation, the statement said.

Of the nearly 660 reform measures highlighted, the report points to 160-190 measures directly created or improved public-facing access, including portals, complaint systems, mobile applications and digital certificates.

“Citizens experience governance not through policy documents, but through electricity bills, court delays, visa processing times, digital portals, grievance redress mechanisms, and the predictability of rules that affect their livelihoods,” it notes.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2026