ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday announced that it would formally approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package to address a mounting balance of payments crisis and to avoid default on international debt obligations.
“We have no other option but to go to the IMF,” Finance Minister Asad Umar said in a video statement. “We will have to take a loan to support the failing economy.”
The finance minister said the government has been consulting some “friendly countries” and Prime Minister Imran Khan has also consulted all leading economic experts as well to deal with the current economic crisis.
“After all this consultative process, it has been decided today that we should start negotiations with the IMF to get a stabilization recovery program to overcome the economic crisis,” he said.
Umar said the government will try its best to pass on the least possible burden of the “difficult decision” on the underprivileged, adding that everyone is aware of the difficult economic conditions left by the previous PML-N government for the country.
The finance minister is expected to meet the officials of the World Bank and IMF during their annual meeting in Indonesia later this week.
Pakistan has gone to the IMF repeatedly since the late 1980s. The last time was in 2013, when Islamabad got a $6.6 billion loan to tackle the economic crisis.
Economic experts, however, fear that the terms of any new loan will be more stringent than those in 2013, owing to tense relations with the United States, the lender’s biggest donor.
“Everyone knows this is a difficult decision, a difficult challenge; but this nation has proved time and again that when it takes a decision for the betterment of the country, everyone stands by it for success,” the finance minister added.
Pakistan decides to approach IMF for bailout package
Pakistan decides to approach IMF for bailout package
- The finance minister is expected to meet the officials of the World Bank and IMF during their annual meeting in Indonesia later this week
- Pakistan has gone to the IMF repeatedly since the late 1980s
Pakistan forms committee to negotiate financial advisory services for Islamabad airport privatization
- Committee to engage Asian Development Bank to negotiate terms of financial advisory services agreement, says privatization ministry
- Inaugurated in 2018, Islamabad airport has faced criticism over construction delays, poor facilities and operational inefficiencies
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Privatization Ministry announced on Wednesday that it has formed a committee to engage the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to negotiate a potential financial advisory services agreement for the privatization of Islamabad International Airport.
The Islamabad International Airport, inaugurated in 2018 at a cost of over $1 billion, has faced criticism over construction delays, poor facilities, and operational inefficiencies.
The Negotiation Committee formed by the Privatization Commission will engage with the ADB to negotiate the terms of a potential Financial Advisory Services Agreement (FASA) for the airport’s privatization, the ministry said.
“The Negotiation Committee has been mandated to undertake negotiations and submit its recommendations to the Board for consideration and approval, in line with the applicable regulatory framework,” the Privatization Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said Islamabad airport operations will be outsourced under a concession model through an open and competitive process to enhance its operational efficiency and improve service delivery standards.
Pakistan has recently sought to privatize or outsource management of several state-run enterprises under conditions agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of a $7 billion bailout approved in September last year.
Islamabad hopes outsourcing airport operations will bring operational expertise, enhance passenger experience and restore confidence in the aviation sector.
In December 2025, Pakistan’s government successfully privatized its national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), selling 75 percent of its stakes to a consortium led by the Arif Habib Group.
The group secured a 75 percent stake in the PIA for Rs135 billion ($482 million) after several rounds of bidding, valuing the airline at Rs180 billion ($643 million).
Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said this week the government has handed over 26 state-owned enterprises to the Privatization Commission.
