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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&#39;s Ministry of Finance has published the International Monetary Fund (IMF)&rsquo;s &ldquo;Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment &ndash; November 2025&rdquo; (GCDA) of Pakistan on its official&nbsp;website. The GCDA says Pakistan&rsquo;s policy efforts under the Extended Fund Facility have already delivered significant progress in stabilizing the economy and rebuilding confidence, amid a challenging global environment. &ldquo;Fiscal performance has been strong, with a primary surplus of 2.0 percent of GDP achieved in the first half of FY25, keeping Pakistan on track to meet the end-FY25 target of 2.1 percent of GDP.&rdquo; &ldquo;Inflation fell to a historic low of 0.3 percent in April, and progress on disinflation and steadier domestic and external conditions have allowed the State Bank of Pakistan to cut the policy rate. Gross reserves stood at US$10.3 billion at the end of April, up from US$9.4 billion in August 2024, and are projected to reach US$13.9 billion by the end of June 2025 and continue to be rebuilt over the medium term,&rdquo; it adds. Anti-corruption recommendationsAmong the 11 actions recommended on anti-corruption, the GCDA stresses on focusing on the main agencies and making action plans public, saying: &ldquo;...adopt and implement a risk-based approach to addressing corruption vulnerabilities in federal agencies by: (i) publishing an action plan to mitigate risks in the top ten agencies with highest corruption risks and macro critical exposures based on a centralized assessment using pre-established and public criteria (Year 1); and (ii) annually reporting on implementation progress and risk reduction outcomes in these agencies (Year 2).&rdquo; The recommendations include enhancing &ldquo;the NAB&rsquo;s independence and effectiveness in investigating high-level corruption by strengthening appointment procedures of its head, enhancing investigative capacities, and establishing robust internal accountability.&rdquo; &lsquo;Asset declarations of high-level public officials&rsquo;&nbsp;The report recommends establishing a centralized authority to collect, digitize, and publish asset declarations of high-level public officials with adequate powers and resources to conduct risk-based verification. It stresses &ldquo;increased information sharing by making use of protocol among NAB (National Accountability Bureau), AGP (Auditor-General of Pakistan), and FBR (Federal Board of Revenue) to assess corruption risks and identify suspicious transactions/behaviors for further investigation.&rdquo; It recommends strengthening FIA&rsquo;s (Federal Investigation Agency) investigative capacities on corruption offenses and deepening coordination and collaboration with NAB. Asset declaration of high-level federal civil servants&nbsp;The GCDA also recommends enhancing &ldquo;the independence of Provincial Anti-Corruption Establishment by removing the requirement for approval of higher authorities for corruption investigations, enhancing investigative capacities, and establishing robust internal accountability mechanisms.&rdquo; &nbsp; It recommends strengthening &ldquo;the independence of the accountability courts by establishing a transparent and merit-based process for appointing judges and beginning to publish performance information based on a robust framework.&rdquo; The GCDA also lists strengthening &ldquo;accountability and integrity among high-level federal civil servants by initiating the publication of asset declarations in 2026, and introducing risk-based verification of asset declarations.&rdquo; Membership in key networks&nbsp;The assessment further recommends pursuing &ldquo;membership in key international networks for sharing of information and transparency, including the Egmont Group, ARIN, and Open Government Partnership&rdquo; and&nbsp;stresses on &ldquo;ensuring proactive disclosure of information by public agencies and improving responsiveness to RTI requests.&rdquo; It also recommends establishing a Whistleblower Protection regime and forming a Whistleblower Protection and Vigilance Commission.

Economy

The IMF’s governance assessment for Pakistan recommends risk-based anti-corruption reforms, stronger oversight bodies, asset-declaration systems, whistleblower protections, and judicial independence, while noting progress toward economic stabilization, falling inflation, rising reserves, and strong fiscal performance under ongoing policy efforts.

Articles tagged with "Anti-Corruption"

Pakistan’s finance ministry releases IMF report highlighting reform needs