The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified significant governance and corruption challenges in Pakistan’s public sector following a comprehensive assessment. The findings emerged from a 12-day visit by the IMF legal mission, led by Joel Turkewitz, which consulted approximately 30 departments to prepare its Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment report. The final report is expected to be released by August, according to Express Tribune.
The IMF highlighted that civil service positions and appointments of heads and boards of state-owned enterprises are largely politically driven, undermining merit-based selection and institutional independence. The mission also found no uniform national anti-corruption policy, with institutions such as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and provincial departments operating independently with minimal coordination.
The effectiveness of NAB has reportedly weakened following legal amendments that were intended to address past political misuse. Additionally, the Right to Information Act is being applied inconsistently across departments, compromising transparency in government operations.
The IMF noted that Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules are frequently bypassed, and recommended legal changes to close gaps and remove unjustified exemptions. Organizational accountability was marked as weak, with the Auditor General of Pakistan and the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) failing to enforce proper oversight. The IMF specifically flagged the CCP’s continued engagement with the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association in pricing decisions, raising concerns about regulatory capture.
The assessment criticized slow judicial processes and the resulting backlog of court cases, which weaken enforcement and accountability mechanisms. The IMF also found that key policy decisions are often made using unverified information, and that overlapping mandates among agencies lead to poor outcomes. Short-term goals are frequently prioritized over long-term structural reforms.
The IMF has shared its initial assessment with Pakistani officials. The full report, expected later this year, will include detailed recommendations for reducing corruption and improving transparency in Pakistan’s public sector.
