DNA
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) review mission is scheduled to visit Pakistan next month to conduct the fourth review of the country’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), The News reported on Friday.
The review mission will inquire about the proposed legislation on the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF). The government has introduced the Pakistan Sovereign Wealth Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2026 in the Senate to revise governance and increase fiscal safeguards in order to fulfil IMF conditions.
A top official in the Finance Division told The News on Thursday that the IMF review was expected to visit Pakistan in September 2026, but exact dates have not yet been confirmed. Pakistani high-ups have proposed six amendments to SOE-dedicated laws to parliament. They now need to progress with the remaining three State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) with dedicated laws by the end of August 2026.
The authorities have submitted a draft SWF Law amendment to parliament. These amendments clarify the legal mandate of the SWF as a holding company, strengthen SWF governance, ensure that SWF-owned SOEs remain under the same high-quality governance structures and accountability standards as all other SOEs, require transparent and competitive procedures for divestment and procurement, and introduce key fiscal safeguards.
Most commercial SOEs have published business plans, statements of corporate intent and IFRS-compliant financial statements, in line with recent manuals and guidelines. It is critical that the Central Monitoring Unit, which is now fully staffed, exercises close surveillance over the quality of this reporting. Progress is under way on preparing and incorporating the public service obligation agreements for the seven largest SOEs in the FY27 budget.
The IMF, in its upcoming review mission, will hold parleys on the implementation of the Governance and Anti-Corruption Diagnostics (GCD) Assessment Report. Pakistani authorities have published the Prime Minister’s Economic Governance Reform (EGR) Plan based upon the key GCD recommendations. The EGR sets out 15 reform actions with key performance indicators, timelines and monitoring modalities.
The authorities have also established an institutional framework to facilitate implementation and have initiated mechanisms for close coordination with key stakeholders (including Civil Society Organisations) through policy dialogue and publication of semi-annual reports.
The revised Civil Servant (Conduct) Rules will support the online publication of asset declarations of high-level federal civil servants by end-December 2026. Further revisions will specify limited disclosure restrictions on confidential personal information, and along with a framework for risk-based and timely verification, will facilitate the publication.
To enhance the independence and transparency of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the authorities will submit amendments to the NAB Ordinance to parliament to enhance the appointment process for the NAB chairman and publish investigation and prosecution rules and annual enforcement statistics by the end of January 2027.
Finally, the Anti-Corruption and AML/ CFT Committee will develop a methodology for corruption risk assessment to guide NAB’s development of an action plan to mitigate corruption risks in government agencies by the end of October 2026.
