Pakistan’s relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reflects a deeper pattern of structural dependence. The US$ 7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) approved in 2024 is not merely a financial lifeline but an attempt to manage entrenched dysfunction. The IMF, acting as a lender of last resort, demands reforms in exchange for support: fiscal discipline, subsidy cuts, and transparency. Yet in politically resistant environments like Pakistan, these reforms often remain superficial. This marks Pakistan’s 24th IMF bailout since independence—the most for any country—highlighting a recurring cycle of crisis and external assistance. While the Fund aims to restore stability, it increasingly finds itself propping up states that are fiscally mismanaged, strategically insecure, and institutionally fragile.
Crisis on Repeat: The IMF, Pakistan, and Failed Reform (Soumya Bhowmick, Shashank Shekhar – Observer Research Foundation)
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