International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva on Wednesday credited Pakistan’s strong implementation of its ongoing IMF program for maintaining macroeconomic stability and build confidence.
Posting on X after meeting Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in Washington on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, she wrote: “Strong program implementation has helped Pakistan maintain macroeconomic stability and build confidence.”
This IMF issued its latest World Economic Outlook 2026 this week, estimating Pakistan’s growth at 3.6% for FY26, lower than the officially envisaged target of 4.2% amid a downward revision of the global economic growth outlook in the wake of the Middle East conflict.
“Sound policies and deeper structural reforms remain key to sustaining growth and raising welfare for all Pakistanis,” she added.
In a statement, the Ministry of Finance said the IMF chief’s remarks reflected growing international recognition of Pakistan’s reform efforts and its commitment to maintaining economic stability through prudent policymaking.
Separately, speaking with CNBC, the finance minister noted that a prolonged was in the Middle East would have serious financial consequences for Pakistan and the wider global economy. Maintaining Pakistan’s leadership is striving to support diplomatic engagement between the United States and Iran, he noted both the U.S. and Iranian leaderships had recognized the “earnest effort.”
Stressing that the commencement of dialogue itself was an achievement, he said it was a positive development that discussions were ongoing. “We have to be hopeful because dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward,” he said. “Even as a country which is not directly involved in the war, we are in a warlike situation, and I can tell you as a finance minister the first impact that we see in our country is the financial impact and if the war goes on, it would be a quite big issue for the entire world, and certainly for us as well,” he added.
Aurangzeb claimed Pakistan’s oil supplies were sufficient for the immediate future but warned of vulnerabilities. “Our reserves are good enough to take us towards the end of this month and into the next month as well,” he said. “But you can appreciate that in a country which is built on commercial reserves, and we do not have strategic reserves, both the availability and the pricing become real issues,” he added.