Pakistan, IMF to open fifth-tranche talks Wednesday
Negotiators in Islamabad are expected to review the country's economic performance through June 2026 and structural reform targets before releasing the next Extended Fund Facility instalment.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund will begin talks in Islamabad on Wednesday, September 23, for the fifth tranche of the existing Extended Fund Facility programme, valued at $1.2 billion, according to ARY News.
Finance Ministry sources told the channel that an IMF delegation would arrive in Pakistan on September 23 and that all preparations for the review discussions had been completed. Bol News and Samaa also reported the start of the fifth-tranche talks, with Samaa specifying that the negotiations were to begin on September 23 for a $1.2 billion tranche. The other reports did not carry details beyond the announcement. ARY News, which filed its report on September 22, said the talks would begin the following day.
According to the ministry sources quoted by ARY News, Pakistani officials are expected to brief the visiting IMF team on the country's economic performance through June 2026. They will also report on the progress made against structural benchmarks agreed under the loan programme.
The agenda includes targets for economic and energy reforms, as well as measures aimed at circular debt in the gas and electricity sectors, the sources said.
If the review ends successfully, Pakistan will receive the fifth instalment of the Extended Fund Facility programme, amounting to $1.2 billion. The sources added that Pakistan might also secure around $200 million to help mitigate losses caused by climate change. This amount would be in addition to the fifth tranche, according to ARY News.
The 37-month loan programme was approved in September 2024. Pakistan received the first $1 billion instalment in September 2024, a second $1 billion in May 2025, and a third on December 11, 2025, ARY News reported. The report did not specify when a fourth instalment was released.
No formal statement had been issued by the federal finance authorities by the time the reports were filed, leaving the details to media accounts attributed to Finance Ministry sources.
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