The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has imposed 11 tough new conditions on Pakistan to access its loans, aimed at addressing corruption risks, limiting elite control of the sugar sector and revealing the true costs of foreign transfers.
Of the 11 conditions, three relate to tax reforms, asset declarations by government officials and private sector participation in the energy sector – all of which Pakistan must meet by the end of December.
The terms also seek to reduce losses in the power sector by bringing in private sector participation, improving governance and service delivery and increasing the efficiency of the “highly inefficient” Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR), the Tribune said in a report.
The IMF on Thursday released a staff-level report for the second review of the $7 billion bailout, outlining the new terms. With the new additions, the total number of requests rose to 64 in just a year and a half.
what are the conditions
Here are the conditions listed in the report, along with the timelines in which they must be met:
— End of March 2026: Pakistan must complete a detailed tax reform plan by December 2025 that will outline key priorities, staffing needs and roles, timelines and milestones, revenue impact estimates and key performance indicators (KPis) to monitor progress and results.
Using the roadmap, countries must complete all measures to fully implement at least three priority reforms agreed with the IMF by the end of March 2026, including all required subordinate legislation, hiring and staffing, and the first reports on key performance indicators.
— End of May 2026: They must complete a full assessment of remittance costs and structural barriers to cross-border payments, together with an action plan to improve these payments.
— End of June 2026: Before presenting the FY27 budget to Parliament, the government must sign Public Service Obligations (PSO) agreements with each of the 7 largest PSOs.
— End of June 2026: The federal and provincial governments must agree and the federal cabinet must adopt a national policy for sugar market liberalization containing key recommendations on licensing, price controls, import/export permits and zones and clear timelines for implementation.
— End of June 2026: Legislative changes to the Companies Act 2017 must be tabled in Parliament by the deadline to strengthen compliance for unlisted firms, modernize corporate governance structures and align corporate regulations with international best practice.
— End of June 2026: During this time, Pakistan must publish a concept note outlining the scope, objectives and expected outcomes of the reforms to the SEZ Act.
— End of September 2026: The country will also conduct a study on bottlenecks in the local currency bond market and publish a reform plan targeting areas for improvement.
— End of October 2026: Pakistan must publish an action plan to address corruption vulnerabilities in designated departments.
— End of December 2026: They must publish a 3-5 year medium-term strategy for tax reform, including a plan for tax policy, administration and legal reforms. It should also include clear governance arrangements and a resource plan for implementation.
— End of December 2026: Tthe government must release the asset declarations of high-ranking federal government officials.
— End of December 2026: Pakistan needs to complete pre-conditions for private sector participation processes for HESCO and SEPCO.
