Pakistan narrowly missed the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) social spending target for health and education, falling short by Rs27 billion, with the critical contributions from provinces like Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), and Punjab significantly underperforming their commitments.

• Total spending by the federal and four provincial governments reached Rs2.84 trillion against an IMF annual goal of Rs2.863 trillion.
• The IMF imposed quarterly and annual spending ceilings to protect social sector budgets, noting that Pakistan’s social sector spending has declined since 2018.
• Sindh, led by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, showed the greatest underperformance, missing its target by Rs153 billion.
• Officials attributed the shortfall to poor administrative structures and low absorption capacity, despite a late surge in spending during April–June.