Editorial
On September 11, 2013, the then Finance Minister (now Foreign Minister) Ishaq Dar said the government was introducing structural reforms to stabilize the economy of the country. While talking to a four-member delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Islamabad, Dar said hard decisions were the demand of the day to streamline the economy.
On July 5, 2016, the World Bank assured Pakistan, during a meeting with Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, that the WB would continue to provide its full support to Islamabad for bringing economic reforms.
On June 15, 2019, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) offered support to Pakistan for its structural reform agenda during a meeting with the then Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.
On March 26, 2024, Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb, while meeting Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan Mitsuhiro Wada, said that the government was committed to undertaking reforms to bring macroeconomic stability and sustainability. The minister stated that increasing the tax-to-GDP ratio remains a priority area. In this regard, the government will strive to achieve end-to-end digitization with the aim of expanding the tax base, bringing transparency to the tax system, and improving the client experience.
On September 26, 2024, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, while meeting with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York, highlighted the government’s commitment to implementing structural reforms and promoting private sector development.
In December 2025, the IMF said that structural reforms are needed in Pakistan to put the economic bogie on track. There is no doubt that Pakistan is working hard on structural economic reforms, but the structural reforms demanded by the situation and the international lenders such as the IMF, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank are not only economic reforms; rather, they require the overhauling of governance and complete reforms in the governance model across all ministries, divisions, and corporations.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed different committees for structural reforms, and their meetings continue, although he has been in power since 2022 with a pause during the interim government. Three years into his tenure and 22 years since Ishaq Dar acknowledged that Pakistan desperately needed structural reforms, the nation is still waiting for an overhaul of governance and administrative reforms.
Using publicly available data from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Economic Survey of Pakistan, it is indicated that external public debt (approx.) in 2015 was US$ 65 billion, which in 2025 is US$ 131 billion (projected/latest available). Therefore, the total increase (2015–2025) is roughly US$ 66 billion.
On the other hand, expenditure on governance in 2015 (FY2015–16) for General Public Services was Rs 800–850 billion, while Public Order & Safety was Rs 95–110 billion. The total governance expenditure in 2015 was Rs 900–960 billion.
In 2025 (FY2024–25 Budget), General Public Services are allocated Rs 2,900–3,100 billion, while Public Order & Safety is receiving Rs 210–230 billion. The total increase in governance expenditure in the last 10 years is Rs 2.2–2.4 trillion, which in percentage terms is a 230%–260% increase.
Three major reasons for this increase are debt servicing (interest payments) under “General Public Services,” higher pension liabilities, and the expansion of administrative structures. Although the figures indicate that General Public Services, pension liabilities, and the administrative structure are causing increased expenditure in a country that is feeding itself through loans (foreign and domestic), the country appears reluctant to touch the existing civil administrative structure and introduce structural reforms in governance.
Let this country run like this, or is a general overhauling of ministries inevitable? Let the government decide this vital and critical issue.
