IMF flags $30–35bn import data gap, sets condition to review Pakistan’s statistics: report

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked Pakistan to assess the quality and authenticity of its import statistics after identifying discrepancies estimated at $30–35 billion over seven years, linking the requirement to its ongoing programme with the country, The News reported.

In its latest staff report issued after approving a $1.2 billion tranche under the Extended Fund Facility, the IMF said weaknesses were found in merchandise import data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. While the Fund noted that the discrepancies are not expected to materially affect the balance of payments figures published by the State Bank of Pakistan, it said a detailed review of earlier statistics and data collection procedures is required.

The IMF said Pakistan has committed to conducting a comprehensive assessment of import data sources and methodologies and to preparing a revised set of statistics, along with explanations, for public release after approval by the relevant technical committee.

The report said broader efforts to strengthen macroeconomic statistics are underway. These include the publication of the Agricultural Census in July, the first in 15 years, and the release of results from the Labour Force Survey and the Household Integrated Economic Survey by the PBS.

According to the IMF, work is also progressing on implementing the Government Finance Statistics roadmap, developing a new Producer Price Index, and preparing for additional large-scale surveys in the next fiscal year. Monthly price data collection for the new PPI is expected to begin before the end of December.

The Fund said 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 — is scheduled to start in January 2026.

On fiscal reporting, the IMF noted that the central unit responsible for government finance statistics is regularly collecting and classifying data, with mappings already introduced into the SAP system. Once system upgrades are completed, this will allow reporting in line with international standards under the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014.