Reporting snapshot · 28 September 2026. Formal policy-level negotiations between Pakistan and an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff mission open in Islamabad on Monday, 28 September, for the fourth review of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the third review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). This account is a synthesis of reporting by The News International, The Express Tribune, Profit by Pakistan Today and Dawn; as of the morning of 28 September the IMF had not issued its own statement on the opening of the Islamabad round.
What happened
Pakistan and the IMF begin formal policy-level negotiations in Islamabad on Monday, 28 September, for the fourth review under the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility — the 37-month arrangement entered in September 2024 — together with the third review under the $1.4 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility and an Article IV consultation, the Fund’s regular health check of a member economy. The staff mission, led by Iva Petrova, spent the previous week in Karachi holding technical discussions with State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) officials before moving to the capital for the formal round, The News International reported.
The formal phase opens with a meeting between the mission and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s economic team, and is expected to run for about two weeks, assessing Pakistan’s economic performance and programme compliance through 30 June 2026, according to Profit by Pakistan Today. The Express Tribune reported that the Islamabad leg of the talks was expected to begin on 28 September provided the capital remained open to routine activity.
Why it matters
A successful review makes Pakistan eligible for the next disbursements under the programme: about $1 billion under the EFF and a further $200 million under the RSF, Profit reported. The Express Tribune put the combined figure at $1.2 billion across the two tranches, to be released only after the Fund’s Executive Board approves a staff-level agreement. Official sources told The News that Pakistan had largely accomplished the structural benchmarks and performance criteria required for completion of the fourth review, which would unlock a fifth tranche worth $1 billion.
The talks take place against a stronger external position than in earlier reviews. The SBP’s foreign exchange reserves reached a record $21.4 billion in mid-September, helped by the proceeds of Pakistan’s $3 billion Eurobond return to the international market, as KhabarWire reported when the IMF mission arrived. Reports on the cumulative amount already disbursed vary: Profit put receipts under the two arrangements at around $4.8 billion, while Dawn reported that the finance secretary had told a parliamentary panel that roughly $4.5 billion had been disbursed with three reviews completed — a small discrepancy that the two sides’ own accounting will need to settle.
What is on the table
The formal round is expected to cover fiscal performance, revenue collection, energy-sector reforms, provincial finances and external-sector developments. Pakistani authorities plan to brief the Fund on the Sovereign Wealth Fund law, circular debt, tax reforms, reserves and the exchange rate, Dawn reported, alongside discussions on remittances and sugar policy.
Two items stand out. First, the petroleum levy: The News reported that the talks include discussions on the fiscal framework “at a time when pressure is mounting on the government to cut the petroleum levy,” which has been a point of domestic political contest. Second, the sugar sector: Finance Secretary Imdadullah Bosal told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue that the federal government had circulated a draft policy for sugar market liberalisation, with three provinces agreeing and one raising reservations, Dawn reported. The reforms are part of about 174 legislative amendments the IMF has sought across taxation, energy, privatisation, Islamic banking and fiscal consolidation, as KhabarWire set out last week.
What is still uncertain
The opening day of the formal round has already exposed several reform gaps. The Express Tribune reported that Pakistan missed a condition to spend a cumulative Rs3.47 trillion on health and education by a margin of about Rs370 billion, and that the IMF has concerns about Rs853 billion in statistical discrepancies in the budget accounts of the last fiscal year — the same gaps KhabarWire reported when the review opened. A condition to table bills amending the laws of 10 state-owned enterprises was not fully implemented, the Sovereign Wealth Fund amendment bill had been tabled but not approved, and the national policy for sugar market liberalisation was also missed. The condition to adjust gas and electricity prices on time, by contrast, was met.
The immediate questions are pace and outcome. Whether the two sides reach a staff-level agreement during this visit, and how the Fund weighs the missed social-spending and governance conditions against the fiscal progress Pakistan claims, will determine when the next tranche — roughly $1 billion under the EFF — can reach the State Bank. Dawn has previously reported that a disbursement could follow board approval by late November or early December, but the Fund has not confirmed a date. On the revenue side, The News reported that the FBR collected Rs1,722 billion in the first two months of the current fiscal year against a target of Rs1,710 billion, but will need Rs1,331 billion in September to hit the quarterly target agreed with the IMF.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published material, not eyewitness reporting. Sources were reviewed on 28 September 2026. The account of the formal talks opening in Islamabad, the review scope, the disbursement figures and the FBR revenue numbers rest on The News International; the reform gaps and the $1.2 billion combined figure are drawn from The Express Tribune; the mission schedule and disbursement detail are from Profit by Pakistan Today; and the parliamentary briefing on the 174 amendments, Sovereign Wealth Fund, remittances and sugar policy is from Dawn.
- The News International — Pakistan, IMF begin talks on fourth EFF review24 September 2026 · IMF Resident Chief Mahir Binici confirming the review had started, the mission's schedule to move from Karachi to Islamabad, the fiscal-framework and petroleum-levy discussions, the fifth tranche and the FBR revenue figures.
- The Express Tribune — IMF talks begin with reform gaps24 September 2026 · Independent confirmation that the Islamabad leg was expected to begin 28 September, the $1.2 billion combined tranche figure, and the health/education spending gap, statistical discrepancies and other missed conditions.
- Profit by Pakistan Today — IMF mission begins review of Pakistan's $7 billion EFF programme23 September 2026 · Independent report on the mission's arrival in Islamabad on 28 September for the formal round, the review scope, the roughly $1 billion EFF and $200 million RSF disbursements, and the ~$4.8 billion already received.
- Dawn — Govt working on 174 IMF-sought tweaks, NA panel told25 September 2026 · Independent parliamentary briefing from Finance Secretary Imdadullah Bosal on the 174 amendments, the Sovereign Wealth Fund, remittances, sugar policy and the ~$4.5 billion cumulative disbursement figure.
