ISLAMABAD – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised concerns over a $6 billion annual discrepancy in Pakistan’s trade data during staff-level discussions for the $7 billion loan agreement, highlighting inconsistencies that have alarmed policymakers.
According to official sources, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), which operates under the Ministry of Planning, has so far failed to reconcile the gap between reported import and export figures.
The issue came under discussion during the IMF mission’s visit to Islamabad from September 25 to October 8, 2025, after which the government decided to form a new committee to address the problem.
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As per government documents, the PBS will lead the new body, with representation from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Ministry of Planning’s International Trade and Finance Division.
Officials from the Planning Ministry attributed the widening gap to the transition of the trade reporting system from the Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (PRAL) platform to the Pakistan Single Window (PSW) system.
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Under the General Statistics Act 2011, the PBS is the sole national regulator for compiling, coordinating, and analyzing statistical data, including trade and financial information.
Sources said the discrepancy in trade data reached $6 billion in the last fiscal year, while the five-year cumulative difference has risen to between $25 and $30 billion — a figure that has drawn the IMF’s scrutiny amid ongoing fiscal monitoring and economic reforms.