Pakistan will likely secure the final tranche of its stand-by arrangement with the International Monetary Fund and then pursue a new IMF agreement, but the government's political weakness and unpopularity may constrain its ability to enact related economic reforms. On March 20, the IMF announced it had reached a staff-level agreement with the Pakistani government following the second and final review of the country's $3 billion stand-by arrangement (SBA). Pending approval from the IMF's executive board, expected by late April, the staff-level agreement will release the final $1.1 billion tranche of the SBA, which was inked in June 2023 under the leadership of then-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who was recently re-elected for a comeback term following Pakistan's Feb. 8 general election. In announcing the new staff-level agreement, the IMF noted that the government's implementation of recommended reforms -- combined with renewed support from multilateral and bilateral partners -- had improved...
