Pakistan

Islamabad, October 14, 2026. Pakistani media are covering the Global Economic Prospects, published on Tuesday, October 13, in Bangkok during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, from two angles: global risk and then the national bill.

The Express Tribune details the perils. The Fund forecasts growth of 3.1% in 2026, compared to 3.0% in July, and then 3.4% in 2027, an assumption that supposes the reopening of the Strait of Ormuz by March. A longer war, with oil above $130 until the first quarter of 2027, would subtract half a point of growth next year. The daily newspaper quotes Kristalina Georgieva's phrase: an economy "standing on one leg, the leg of AI". A collapse of investments in AI would reduce the global GDP by 1.1% by 2028. It also highlights the IMF's warning to poor countries affected by the energy shock of the war with Iran: they may have to reduce their spending or restructure their debt.

The Daily Times takes it down to the country's scale. The IMF is counting on Pakistani growth of 3.5% for the 2026-27 fiscal year, below the government's target of 4% and the World Bank's 3.8%. Inflation would rise from 7.1% to 9.9%, and the current account would go from a surplus to a deficit of 1% of GDP. The newspaper notes that unemployment should nonetheless decrease to 6.5%, without the report explaining this improvement.

Business Recorder extends the budget message. Rodrigo Valdes, from the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department, told Reuters that "the longer countries wait, the more painful the adjustment becomes", the average public debt approaching 100% of GDP. The Fund invites low-income countries to strengthen their tax system. The same newspaper reports that Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb reaffirmed on Tuesday, during a roundtable on sovereign risks, the national ownership of tax, energy, public enterprise, and pension reforms under the IMF program. He highlights budget consolidation, inflation reduction, and the rebuilding of foreign exchange reserves, as well as debt management aimed at lengthening maturities.

The Pakistani narrative therefore treats the report less as a map of AI winners than as a test of the discipline that the country is already imposing on itself under the IMF program.