ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has opened criminal investigations into 50 pilots and at least five civil aviation officials who allegedly helped them falsify credentials to secure licenses, according to two senior government sources and cabinet meeting minutes seen by Reuters.
The probes come roughly three months after Pakistan grounded dozens of pilots over allegedly dubious qualifications. At the time, the civil aviation regulator said it would conduct a detailed investigation into the scandal.
On the government's orders, Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has launched criminal probes into the matter, according to minutes from Tuesday's cabinet meeting and the sources, who declined to be named because the discussions are private.
A show-cause notice served to one of the pilots and seen by Reuters said the FIA was investigating "alleged corruption, violations, malpractices in (the) issuance of flight crew licenses."
Munir Ahmed Shaikh, a senior FIA official, confirmed that a probe into the matter was ongoing, but declined to comment any further. The civil aviation ministry declined to comment until the government makes the matter public.
The ministry submitted the findings of its inquiry to the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday, said the sources, adding that another 32 pilots have separately been suspended for a year.
"The cabinet was told that FIA has opened proceedings into the pilots whose licenses were revoked, and the civil aviation officials who connived with them," said the minutes from the meeting seen by Reuters.
The pilot scandal has tainted Pakistan's aviation industry and especially flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which has been barred from flying to Europe and the United States after dozens of its pilots were named in the initial list of 262 with allegedly "dubious" licenses.
That list had been made public after an initial probe into a PIA plane crash in Karachi in May found that the pilots did not follow standard procedures and disregarded alarms.
The initial list sparked controversy however, as PIA and the local pilots association noted that many of the pilots named had long since retired and some were even deceased.
Reuters was unable to establish whether the remaining 180 pilots on the initial list were still under investigation or if they had been cleared of any wrongdoing.
A spokesman for PALPA, the local pilots' association, said it had no clarity on the status of the probe. A spokesman for PIA said the airline was awaiting details.
Pakistan opens criminal probes into 50 pilots, 5 civil aviation officials — sources
https://arab.news/nktkf
Pakistan opens criminal probes into 50 pilots, 5 civil aviation officials — sources
- Probes come roughly three months after Pakistan grounded dozens of pilots over allegedly dubious qualifications
- A show-cause notice served to one of the pilots said the FIA was investigating 'alleged corruption, violations, malpractices in (the) issuance of flight crew licenses'
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.
