IMF Demands Overhaul of Pakistan’s Import Data After $30-35 Billion Discrepancy Uncovered

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on Pakistan to conduct a comprehensive review of its import data and statistical procedures after major discrepancies totaling $30-35 billion were identified in the country’s trade figures over the past seven years. In its latest staff report, released following the approval of a $1 billion tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the IMF highlighted the urgent need to strengthen Pakistan’s macroeconomic statistics. The Fund noted that discrepancies in merchandise import data reported by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) have raised concerns about the quality and authenticity of the country’s official statistics, though the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) balance of payments figures are not expected to be significantly affected. The IMF has now made it a condition for Pakistan to assess the quality of its import data, review data collection and aggregation procedures, and prepare a full set of revised statistics and explanations for public release, pending approval by a technical committee. The government has pledged to address the issue, committing to improve the timeliness, quality, and coverage of macroeconomic data. Recent efforts include the publication of the first Agricultural Census in 15 years, as well as the release of the Labor Force Survey and Household Integrated Economic Survey. The PBS is also preparing to launch a new Producer Price Index (PPI) and will begin data collection for three major surveys in FY26: the census of manufacturing industries, the survey of small and household manufacturing industries, and the family budget survey. In line with the Government Finance Statistics (GFS) roadmap, Pakistan has established a central GFS unit to regularly collect and classify fiscal operations data. The integration of GFS mappings into the SAP system is underway, which will enable the generation of reports based on the latest international standards once system upgrades are complete.