Islamabad, February 22, 2025: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that a review mission will visit Pakistan in early March to assess the ongoing $7 billion loan program and discuss the next tranche of funding. The delegation will also focus on climate financing as part of Pakistan’s broader financial negotiations.
According to Maahir Binesi, the IMF’s representative in Pakistan, the delegation will engage in discussions regarding the next installment of the loan while also reviewing the technical aspects of climate financing at Pakistan’s request.
In addition to the loan review, a separate IMF mission focused on climate-related financial arrangements is scheduled to visit Pakistan at the end of February. This technical team will evaluate Pakistan’s existing climate financing initiatives and explore potential future support mechanisms.
Furthermore, an IMF mission will arrive in Islamabad next week to discuss approximately $1 billion in climate financing under the Fund’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST). This trust, established in 2022, provides long-term concessional funding for climate-related expenditures, including adaptation and clean energy transitions.
Khurram Schehzad, an adviser to Pakistan’s finance minister, told Reuters that the mission would visit from February 24 to 28 for a “review and discussion” on climate resilience funding. Pakistan formally requested around $1 billion from the IMF under this trust in October last year to help mitigate the nation’s vulnerability to climate change.
The country’s economy is gradually recovering after being stabilized under the $7 billion IMF Extended Fund Facility secured last year. Another IMF mission will visit Pakistan in early March for the first review of this facility, Schehzad added.
Pakistan remains one of the most climate-vulnerable nations, according to the Global Climate Risk Index. The devastating 2022 floods, which scientists linked to global warming, affected at least 33 million people and claimed over 1,700 lives. The country’s economic struggles and high debt burden have hindered its ability to respond effectively to such disasters.
