ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has started registering virtual private networks (VPNs) to facilitate businesses and foreign missions in their “legitimate, secure and uninterrupted operations,” the country’s telecom regulator said on Friday.
Millions of Pakistanis have faced a mysterious months-long Internet slowdown that has drawn backlash from activists and business leaders who believe the state is testing a firewall to control online spaces. The Pakistani government has previously blamed a surge in the use of VPNs and damaged underwater cables for the slowdown whilst also admitting that the country was “undergoing a transition.”
The minister in-charge of the cabinet division, who is technically the prime minister, this month admitted to using a Web Monitoring System that utilizes peep packet inspection technology to detect and block VPN traffic and allows the government to monitor all Internet traffic entering or leaving Pakistan, according to a written response dated Aug. 26 to a question by Pakistani lawmaker Shahida Rehmani and seen by Arab News.
“To facilitate businesses of software houses, call centers, freelancers and foreign missions/embassies for their legitimate, secure and uninterrupted operations, VPNs are being registered under ‘one window’ operations available at PTA and PSEB (Pakistan Software Export Board) website,” the PTA said on Friday.
“It is an ongoing activity which is being continuously streamlined by PTA, MoIT (Ministry of Information Technology), PSEB and P@SHA (Pakistan Software Houses Association). Over 20,000 IPs (Internet Protocol addresses) have been registered for VPNs since 2020.”
The Internet challenges come as Pakistan’s military — the country’s most powerful institution — says it is battling so-called “digital terrorism.” Independent analysts say the main target of the digital disruption is the party of jailed opposition leader Imran Khan, still wildly popular and boosted by a young, tech-savvy voter base.
But State Minister for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja has repeatedly said the government was not behind the Internet slowdown, blaming it on a surge in VPN use. She has also rejected that the planned firewall will be used for censorship purposes.
Pakistan is banking on its nascent but growing IT industry to increase its exports and generate critical foreign exchange revenue for a cash-strapped country.
“Without immediate and decisive action, the country risks deeper economic fallout and a prolonged digital divide,” Shahzad Arshad, chairman of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan, said in a statement this week.
Pakistan starts VPN registration amid slow Internet speeds
https://arab.news/phnqd
Pakistan starts VPN registration amid slow Internet speeds
- Millions of Pakistanis have faced a mysterious months-long Internet slowdown that has drawn backlash from activists and business leaders
- The government has previously blamed a surge in the use of VPNs and damaged underwater cables for the slowdown in the South Asian country
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.
