Published in Dawn on December 20, 2025
ISLAMABAD: The IMF’s Resident Chief in Pakistan, Mahir Binic, on Friday cautioned that the country’s macroeconomic vulnerabilities persist, underscoring the need for continued and credible reform efforts. The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) convened a policy session on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF), focusing on the completion of the second review, at its Islamabad office.
The session was chaired by Mahir Binici, Resident Representative of the IMF in Pakistan, marking his first official visit to PIDE. The event brought together faculty members, researchers, students, and policy professionals for an in-depth exchange on Pakistan’s macroeconomic trajectory and reform priorities.
The session was formally inaugurated by Dr Karim Khan, Dean of Academics at PIDE, who highlighted the importance of informed, evidence-based policy dialogue in addressing Pakistan’s economic challenges.
In his presentation, Mahir Binici provided a comprehensive overview of the completion of the second review under Pakistan’s IMF Extended Fund Facility, approved on December 8, 2025. He noted that the 2024 EFF has been designed by incorporating lessons from previous arrangements, with a stronger stress on building economic resilience and supporting sustainable growth.
Highlighting progress under the program, Binici pointed to reductions in external imbalances, improved functioning of the foreign exchange market, and a gradual easing of pressure on foreign exchange reserves.
He stressed that these stabilisation gains must be preserved through policy continuity, discipline, and consistency to ensure long-term durability. On fiscal policy, he underscored the importance of consolidation to ensure debt sustainability, identifying tax base broadening, stronger tax administration, and rationalization of untargeted subsidies as key reform priorities necessary to create space for development spending and social protection.
Binici also emphasized that structural reforms remain central to the IMF-supported program, particularly in the energy sector, state-owned enterprises, and governance and transparency frameworks. He noted that these reforms are critical not only for macroeconomic stabilization but also for strengthening long-term economic resilience. Recognizing the social costs associated with adjustment measures, he stressed the importance of targeted social safety nets to protect vulnerable segments of society from the impact of inflation and reforms.
