President Asif Ali Zardari met with Jihad Azour, the Director of the International Monetary Fund Middle East and Central Asia Department, at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad. During the discussion, Zardari pledged Pakistan's dedication to social protection, privatisation, energy sector reforms, and fiscal sustainability.
The President's Secretariat stated that Pakistan has transitioned from a phase of economic stabilisation toward recovery. Economic data for the 2025-26 fiscal year shows the economy expanded to $452.1 billion with real gross domestic product growth reaching 3.7%.
The fiscal deficit dropped to 2.6% of GDP in the same period, while the country recorded a primary surplus for the third year in a row. Pakistan currently operates under a $7 billion Extended Fund Facility and a $1.4 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility with the IMF.
A staff-level agreement was reached earlier this month following the third review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility and the fourth review of the Extended Fund Facility. The IMF delegation included resident representative Mahir Binici and mission chief Iva Petrova.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb attended the meeting alongside Senator Sherry Rehman, Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, finance secretary, and former finance minister Syed Naveed Qamar. Pakistan is scheduled to chair the Boards of Governors for both the World Bank Group and the IMF in 2027.
