Pakistan Forms Task Force for Waste-to-Energy Policy
May 16, 2026
The IMF has introduced 11 new structural benchmarks for Pakistan, including FY27 budget approval, energy tariff revisions, SEZ tax incentive phase-outs, and reforms aimed at improving NAB transparency and governance.
Read more: IMF Sets 11 New Reform Conditions for Pakistan
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has imposed 11 new structural benchmarks on Pakistan under the latest review of its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), expanding the total number of programme conditions to 55, according to Business Recorder.
Among the key conditions, Pakistan will be required to secure parliamentary approval of the FY27 federal budget in line with IMF staff-level understandings, including maintaining an underlying primary surplus target of 2% of GDP by June 2026, as reported by Business Recorder.
The IMF has also proposed major governance reforms focused on the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Under the new benchmarks, amendments to the NAB ordinance must be submitted to parliament by January 2027 to establish “an open, merit-based, rigorous and competitive selection process” for senior management appointments. The reforms also require publication of NAB investigation and prosecution rules along with annual statistics on corruption investigations, prosecutions, and convictions, according to Dawn Business.
On the energy front, Pakistan will notify semi-annual gas tariff adjustments by July 2026 and February 2027, while an annual electricity tariff revision is scheduled for January 2027 to maintain “cost recovery levels”, as reported by Business Recorder.
The IMF programme further calls for amendments to the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Act to gradually phase out existing tax incentives and shift towards cost-based incentives under an agreed transition framework. Fiscal incentives for Special Technology Zones are also planned to be phased out by 2035, according to Dawn Business.
In the monetary sector, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has been tasked with preparing a roadmap for gradual foreign exchange liberalisation by March 2027, including sequencing linked to macroeconomic and financial stability conditions.
Additional reforms include changes to public procurement rules to eliminate preferences for state-owned enterprises, preparation of a centralised audit policy and manual, and inflation-linked adjustments to the Benazir Income Support Programme’s Kafaalat cash transfers, as reported by Business Recorder.
According to the IMF, the reforms are aimed at strengthening fiscal discipline, improving governance standards, enhancing transparency, and maintaining economic stability under Pakistan’s ongoing financial support programme.
