The International Monetary Fund proposed a prior action to amend state-owned enterprise laws to secure the next one billion dollar loan tranche. Review talks concerning the laws governing SOEs concluded on 7 October 2026.
Senator Saleem Mandviwalla stated that the committee will pass the SOE laws if they serve the national interest. The Finance Ministry disclosed that the public debt of SOEs reached Rs10.1 trillion by December last year.
This figure for SOE public debt represented 242 percent, or Rs7.1 trillion more than the central bank's earlier report. Pakistan and the IMF conducted staff-level discussions between 23 September and 7 October 2026.
The IMF objected to a Rs180 billion discrepancy out of Rs853 billion during the budget scrutiny. Authorities must align the SOE laws before mid-November, the IMF requested.
The IMF board might meet in late November to approve the subsequent one billion dollar loan tranche under the Extended Fund Facility. The IMF has already released $4.2 billion of the total $7 billion package.
Secretary Finance Imdad Ullah Bosal listed seven specific laws slated for amendment. The IMF also voiced concern regarding the delay in amending the Sovereign Wealth Act.
World Bank data indicated that 48 percent of the poor in the MENAP region reside in Pakistan.
