KARACHI: Pakistan’s BankIslami corroborated on Monday that it came under a cyberattack – reportedly the biggest in the nation’s history – which may have involved $6 million worth of online transactions that were recorded in different countries over the weekend.
In a letter to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, the bank said: “On the morning of October 27, 2018, certain abnormal transactions valuing Rs 2.6 million were detected by the bank on one of its international payment card schemes. The bank immediately took precautionary steps which, inter alia, included shutting its international payment scheme. All monies withdrawn from accounts, i.e. Rs 2.6 million, have been credited in the respective accounts.”
The statement added: “The transaction of approximately $6 million as claimed by the international payment scheme are not acknowledged by the bank as the bank was actually logged off from the international system.”
Meanwhile, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) issued directives to all banks to safeguard all payment cards in the country and monitor their real-time usage, especially for overseas transactions.
“Security measures on all IT systems including those related to card operations are continuously updated to meet any challenges in future. Resources are deployed to ensure the 24/7 real time monitoring of card operations-related systems and transactions,” the SBP said in its statement.
Despite the cyberheist, the share prices of the bank closed in green gaining value by 0.06 percent at Rs 13.85 as the investors refused to give weight to the incident.
“The market participants did not give importance to the incident may be because the bank has not incurred significant loss,” Ahsan Mehanti, senior analyst and Chief Executive of Arif Habib Group, told Arab News.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark KSE-100 Index witnessed another bullish day, gaining an additional 897 points to close at 41453.76 level.
“Bullish activity continued at PSX on speculation ahead of PM [Imran Khan’s] visit to China and $1 billion likely financial assistance from the UAE to resolve external account imbalances. Institutional interest in oversold scrips in oil, banking and cement sector played a catalyst role in bullish close,” Mehanti commented.
“With this rise, total recovery from recent lows is 4,790 points against recent lows at 36,663 points recorded on October 16,” Khurram Schehzad, senior analyst and Chief Commercial Officer at JS Global Capital, said.
In terms of value, market capitalization recovered by about 12 percent or about $6.6 billion to $62 billion, while the market traded value crossed $100 million a day in the past few days, too.
“Traded Volumes at the PSX crossed 460 million shares which is a 15-month high, last seen in May 2017, when we were close to the MSCI EM upgrade. Market traded value also stood close to $120 million”, Schehzad said.
The sluggish share market experienced a rebound following the recent promise by Saudi Arabia to lend $6 billion to Pakistan to support the country in stabilizing its external payment imbalances.
On Monday, the stock market was abuzz with reports of additional support from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Malaysia, with investors expecting further financial assistance during Prime Minister Imran Khan’s upcoming visit to China on November 3.
BankIslami confirms it's a victim of $6mn cyberheist
BankIslami confirms it's a victim of $6mn cyberheist
- Pakistan share market closes bullish amid reports of additional foreign financial aid
- KSE 100 Index gains 4790 points since Saudi’s $6bn bailout pledge
IMF warns against policy slippage amid weak recovery as it clears $1.2 billion for Pakistan
- Pakistan rebuilt reserves, cut its deficit and slowed inflation sharply over the past one year
- Fund says climate shocks, energy debt, stalled reforms threaten stability despite recent gains
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s economic recovery remains fragile despite a year of painful stabilization measures that helped pull the country back from the brink of default, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on Thursday, after it approved a fresh $1.2 billion disbursement under its ongoing loan program.
The approval covers the second review of Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the first review of its climate-focused Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), bringing total disbursements since last year to about $3.3 billion.
Pakistan entered the IMF program in September 2024 after years of weak revenues, soaring fiscal deficits, import controls, currency depletion and repeated climate shocks left the economy close to external default. A smaller stopgap arrangement earlier that year helped avert immediate default, but the current 37-month program was designed to restore macroeconomic stability through strict monetary tightening, currency adjustments, subsidy rationalization and aggressive revenue measures.
The IMF’s new review shows that Pakistan has delivered significant gains since then. Growth recovered to 3 percent last year after shrinking the year before. Inflation fell from over 23 percent to low single digits before rising again after this year’s floods. The current account posted its first surplus in 14 years, helped by stronger remittances and a sharp reduction in imports. And the government delivered a primary budget surplus of 1.3 percent of GDP, a key program requirement. Foreign exchange reserves, which had dropped dangerously low in 2023, rose from US$9.4 billion to US$14.5 billion by June.
“Pakistan’s reform implementation under the EFF arrangement has helped preserve macroeconomic stability in the face of several recent shocks,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Nigel Clarke said in a statement after the Board meeting.
But he warned that Islamabad must “maintain prudent policies” and accelerate reforms needed for private-sector-led and sustainable growth.
The Fund noted that the 2025 monsoon floods, affecting nearly seven million people, damaging housing, livestock and key crops, and displacing more than four million, have set back the recovery. The IMF now expects GDP growth in FY26 to be slightly lower and forecasts inflation to rise to 8–10 percent in the coming months as food prices adjust.
The review warns Pakistan against relaxing monetary or fiscal discipline prematurely. It urges the State Bank to keep policy “appropriately tight,” allow exchange-rate flexibility and improve communication. Islamabad must also continue raising revenues, broadening the tax base and protecting social spending, the Fund said.
Despite the progress, Pakistan’s structural weaknesses remain severe.
Power-sector circular debt stands at about $5.7 billion, and gas-sector arrears have climbed to $11.3 billion despite tariff adjustments. Reform of state-owned enterprises has slowed, including delays in privatizing loss-making electricity distributors and Pakistan International Airlines. Key governance and anti-corruption reforms have also been pushed back.
The IMF welcomed Pakistan’s expansion of its flagship Benazir Income Support Program, which raises cash transfers for low-income families and expands coverage, saying social protection is essential as climate shocks intensify. But it warned that high public debt, about 72 percent of GDP, thin external buffers and climate exposure leave the country vulnerable if reform momentum weakens.
The Fund said Pakistan’s challenge now is to convert short-term stabilization into sustained recovery after years of economic volatility, with its ability to maintain discipline, rather than the size of external financing alone, determining the durability of its gains.
