IMF launches second diagnostic mission to address corruption in Pakistan

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has initiated proceedings to conduct its second ‘Corruption and Diagnostic Mission’ in the country.

According to reports, the international lender intends to address issues that have plagued the country since its inception, over which, an IMF delegation will remain in discussions with domestic authorities till April 14.

These meetings will go over multiple state departments and entities, reportedly including the Supreme Court’s accountability and registrar court.

The IMF delegation is slated to engage with approximately 30 departments to improve governance, launch a crackdown against money laundering and to tackle Pakistan’s chronic corruption problem.

The fight against the aforementioned issues can be conducted by focusing on improving financial oversight, analysts say, outlining the IMF’s keen interest in Pakistan’s corruption and governance problems.

Reports reveal that the international lender is on a routine follow up visit to ensure that everything is running smoothly and in line with the objectives discussed in February as well.

The delegation aims to write a report along with policy recommendations that could allow for Pakistan to reshape its governance mechanisms. Given Pakistan’s longstanding issues with money laundering and rampant corruption, many believe that the IMF’s advice would be for the country to tackle these problems.

In 2024, Pakistan scored an abysmal 27 points on the corruption perceptions index. For reference, the index ranges from 0 to 100 with a score of 0 indicating rampant corruption and 100 reflecting the complete absence of corruption from institutions.

According to data, Pakistan ranks as the 135th most corrupt country in the world. This helps explain the IMF’s interest in reforming the country’s systems to pave way for a fairer and more transparent system. Earlier, the IMF also intended on exploring the possible economic effects of these vulnerabilities in their assessment, which could be included in the final report.

Moreover, the IMF’s persistent focus on money laundering is warranted as well. This is because as per the Basel Anti-Money Laundering Index (AML) index, that aims to assess the risk of money laundering and related financial crimes on a country-by-country basis, Pakistan has a fairly high risk score of 5.56 points.  

For reference, a score of 10 indicates extreme vulnerability to such practices. With Pakistan’s score being less than envious, the IMF intends to ensure that the incidence of such financial crimes is reduced.