The Express Tribune reported on April 20, 2026, citing government sources, that 11 additional conditions were incorporated during the third review of Pakistan’s $7 billion IMF program. The reported commitments covered the budget, business-zone incentives, regulation, foreign exchange, energy tariffs, tax audits, procurement and social protection. The IMF confirmed the review process, but the available IMF materials do not establish an official list labeled “11 new conditions,” so the count and details should be understood as the newspaper’s account.
What was reported—and what the IMF confirmed
The Express Tribune’s April 20, 2026 report said government sources described 11 additional conditions incorporated during the third review of Pakistan’s $7 billion program. It also reported that the cumulative number of conditions had reached 75. That aggregate is the newspaper’s count; the retrieved IMF sources do not validate it or explain how it was calculated. Read The Express Tribune’s report.
The IMF’s March 2026 end-of-mission statement confirms that discussions were under way for the third review of Pakistan’s 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement and the second review of its Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangement. The discussions covered fiscal consolidation, monetary policy, energy-sector viability, social protection and climate resilience. The statement also noted uncertainty related to the Middle East conflict and said discussions would continue on its possible effects on Pakistan’s outlook, balance of payments and external financing needs. Read the IMF’s March 2026 statement.
The IMF’s third-review country report is the primary source for program details and structural conditionality. Its structural-conditionality table includes an action numbered 11, concerning a tax-reform roadmap and implementation of agreed priority areas. That numbering is not evidence that the IMF added exactly 11 new measures. The newspaper’s reported count and the IMF table’s item number refer to different things. Read IMF Country Report No. 26/101.
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What the 11 reported commitments covered
The specific measures below were reported by The Express Tribune, with some details attributed to unnamed government sources. They should not be read as an IMF-published checklist of 11 formally classified conditions. The report uses “conditions” broadly for a mixture of policy commitments and structural actions; it does not provide enough information here to classify every item as a prior action, structural benchmark or quantitative performance criterion.
Budget and business zones
- FY2026–27 budget: Parliament was to approve a budget aligned with the targets in the IMF staff agreement.
- Special economic and technology zones: Amendments to the Special Economic Zones Act and Special Technology Zones Authority Act were reported as due by June 2027. The changes would phase out existing fiscal incentives and shift toward cost-based incentives; the report said incentives for special technology zones would be phased out by 2035.
- Export processing zones: The report said these zones would be barred from selling goods in the domestic market, with implementation reported for September 2026.
Regulation and foreign exchange
- Pakistan Regulatory Registry: A registry was reported as due by June 2027, initially covering federal and Islamabad Capital Territory regulations, with provincial regulations to be added later.
- Foreign-exchange restrictions: The State Bank of Pakistan was reported to have committed to a roadmap for gradual removal of restrictions, with sequencing and preconditions.
Electricity and gas pricing
- Electricity: The report described quarterly tariff adjustments and automatic monthly fuel-charge adjustments. It also said an annual electricity price adjustment would be fully implemented in January 2027.
- Gas: Semiannual tariff adjustments were reported, first on July 1, 2026, and then on February 15, 2027.
Tax audits and public procurement
- FBR audits: The Federal Board of Revenue was reported as due to centralize audit case selection by June 2026 and adopt an audit manual, a published audit policy, and an audit and integrity risk register.
- Procurement: Public procurement rules were reported as due to change by September 2026 to eliminate preferences for state-owned enterprises in noncompetitive awards. The report said the change was subject to federal cabinet approval.
Social protection
- BISP benefits: The report said compensation under the Benazir Income Support Programme would rise from Rs14,500 to Rs19,500 starting in January 2027. It described the change as bringing quarterly benefits closer to 15% of the lowest family income quintile’s consumption basket.
How to read the deadlines and figures
The dates above are the commitments and implementation timings reported on April 20, 2026—not a verified account of what has since been completed or remains pending. In particular, the reported start dates and deadlines should not be treated as current status without later confirmation. The amounts, percentage and cumulative count likewise belong to the newspaper’s account, not to a separately verified IMF statistic.
For a status check, start with the IMF’s Pakistan publications page and the latest country report or review documents, then compare each measure’s classification, deadline and reported completion status with the April account. See the IMF Office in Pakistan publications page.
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