At the conclusion of the talks, Mr. Porter stated that significant progress had been made toward reaching a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) on the first review of the EFF. He noted that program implementation had been strong, with advances in fiscal consolidation to reduce public debt, maintaining tight monetary policy for low inflation, and accelerating energy sector reforms.

Discussions also covered Pakistan’s structural reform agenda to boost growth while strengthening social protection and increasing health and education spending. Additionally, progress was made on climate-related reforms, which could be supported under the RSF.

The IMF and Pakistani authorities will continue policy discussions virtually to finalize the agreement in the coming days. Mr. Porter expressed gratitude to the Pakistani authorities, private sector, and development partners for their cooperation and hospitality.

Porter issued the following statement:

“

The IMF and the Pakistani authorities made significant progress toward reaching a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) on the first review under the 37-month Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).“

“Program implementation has been strong, and the discussions have made considerable progress in several areas including the planned fiscal consolidation to durably reduce public debt, maintenance of sufficiently tight monetary policy to maintain low inflation, acceleration of cost-reducing reforms to improve energy sector viability, and implementation of Pakistan’s structural reform agenda to accelerate growth, while strengthening social protection and rebuilding health and education spending.”

“Progress has also been made in discussions on the authorities’ climate reform agenda, which aims to reduce vulnerabilities from natural disasters-related risks, and accompanying reforms which could be supported under a possible arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).”

“The mission and the authorities will continue policy discussions virtually to finalize these discussions over the coming days.”

“The IMF team is grateful to the Pakistani authorities, private sector, and development partners for fruitful discussions and their hospitality throughout this mission.”