If the two sides reach a staff-level agreement on the IMF tranche tied to SOE reforms, the Fund’s board could meet in late November to approve the disbursement. Parliament must pass the amendments first, with mid-November set as the deadline for bringing the laws into alignment.
Four deadlines already missed: IMF tranche SOE reforms
Pakistan was to bring nine to ten SOE-specific laws into conformity with the main SOE Act, but has missed the target four times, most recently in August 2026. Amendments to six of the laws reached parliament in January 2026; three entities governed by dedicated laws are still pending.
Finance Secretary Imdad Ullah Bosal told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance the laws of the Port Qasim Authority, Gwadar Port Authority, Karachi Port Trust, State Life Insurance Corporation, National Bank of Pakistan, National Telecommunication Corporation and Pakistan Railways would be amended.
The IMF is also concerned about delays to the Sovereign Wealth Act, whose deadline was extended to March 2026.
The numbers behind the condition
Pakistan has received $4.2 billion of the $7 billion programme so far. The Fund’s latest review found SOE public debt, excluding contingent liabilities, at a record Rs10.1 trillion by December 2025, which is 242 per cent (Rs7.1 trillion) above the figure the State Bank had earlier reported.
The IMF also wants Rs180 billion of the Rs853 billion statistical discrepancy in the budget adjusted against the claimed primary surplus.
Parliament pushes back on the process
Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, said his committee would scrutinise the proposed changes. “The committee will evaluate the laws and pass them if they are in the national interest,” he said.
Senior PPP leader Syed Naveed Qamar insisted the process must stay with the legislature, saying “all the legislation should only go through parliament.”
Other sticking points
Other issues remain unresolved from the two weeks of talks, which ran from September 23 to October 7. The IMF has not accepted Pakistan’s proposal to link the Benazir Income Support Programme’s annual increase only to inflation instead of food costs, a change Islamabad says would free Rs30 billion for conditional cash transfers.
The Fund is also silent on Pakistan’s request to let existing Export Processing Zones sell 20 per cent of their output in the domestic market.
Mariam Kayani, a Grade-20 finance ministry officer, has been appointed senior adviser to the IMF executive director for three years, replacing Saif Dogar.
The report notes that while fiscal and monetary numbers have improved, the harder reforms have not: state enterprises still lack proper governance and the tax base has not widened to traders, real estate and agriculture. It adds that the brunt of the adjustment has fallen on the salaried class and the corporate sector, and cites a World Bank finding that 48 per cent of the poor in the MENAP region live in Pakistan.
FAQs
What is a prior action in an IMF programme?
A prior action is a step the IMF requires before its board approves a review and releases a tranche. Here it means amending the SOE laws before Pakistan can draw the next $1 billion.
When could the IMF board approve the next tranche?
If the two sides reach a staff-level agreement and parliament amends the laws by mid-November, the board could meet in late November 2026.
Which SOE laws need amending?
The Port Qasim Authority, Gwadar Port Authority, Karachi Port Trust, State Life, National Bank of Pakistan, National Telecommunication Corporation and Pakistan Railways, among nine to ten entities whose laws must conform to the main SOE Act.
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Originally reported by tribune.com.pk.
