Pakistan has reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its second loan review, with the board expected to approve the next installment in early December, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Wednesday. Speaking at the ninth Future Summit in Karachi, he emphasized the government’s shift towards an investment-driven economic model, led primarily by the private sector.
Aurangzeb said investor confidence was boosted, adding, “Our direction is right.” He confirmed that Google had decided to open an office in Pakistan and considered the country as an export hub. A blockchain center has also been established at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) as part of a wider focus on emerging technologies.
The minister said fiscal reforms had progressed steadily over 18 months, with efforts to broaden the tax base using artificial intelligence. “The sugar sector is now digitized and the cigarette sector will follow,” he said, adding that 900,000 new tax filers had been registered.
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He also noted interest from Egypt to adopt Pakistan’s reform model, while the privatization of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was on track to be completed by the end of the year. The recent UAE investments in a Pakistani bank signaled “the beginning of a new era,” Aurangzeb said.
Federal Minister Musadik Malik separately emphasized the need for equal opportunities and fair competition in Pakistan’s economic landscape. Addressing the same summit, he said sustainable development depended on breaking the dominance of the elite and fostering a competitive, innovation-driven economy.
“Our young people’s ambitions are simple,” Malik said. “They want good jobs, safe neighborhoods and basic services.” He argued that macroeconomic figures such as GDP growth had little relevance to the average Pakistani, who was more concerned about education, healthcare, pollution and urban flooding.
Malik warned that environmental challenges, including smog in Lahore and flooding in Karachi, shortened life expectancy by up to eight years. “Butterflies and fireflies are gone; everything is ruined,” he said, calling for urgent reforms in health care, education and local governance. Highlighting high unemployment among young doctors and the lack of primary health care facilities, he said global models showed that such problems could be solved.
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The minister stated that innovation requires competition and that protectionist policies and preferential access to energy for certain sectors hinder exports and foreign investment. “If the elite dominate society, how will companies grow?” he asked, calling for an end to privilege-based politics.
Aurangzeb and Malik both emphasized that Pakistan’s future economic resilience depended on competitiveness, youth empowerment and effective use of external financing, including for climate resilience. Both emphasized the importance of focusing on new sectors, technology and innovation to build a sustainable, inclusive economic model.
