Cricket is not Cricket without Shahid Afridi

SECOND AND FINAL REVIEW UNDER THE STAND-BY ARRANGEMENT—PRESS RELEASE; STAFF REPORT; AND STATEMENT BY THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR PAKISTAN In the context of the Second Review Under the Stand-by Arrangement, the following documents have been released and are included in this package: • A Press Release including a statement by the Chair of the Executive Board. • The Staff Report prepared by a staff team of the IMF for the Executive Board’s consideration on April 29, 2024 following discussions that ended on March 19, 2024, with the officials of Pakistan on economic developments and policies underpinning the IMF arrangement under the Stand-By Arrangement. Based on information available at the time of these discussions, the staff report was completed on April 8, 2024. • A Statement by the Executive Director for Pakistan. The IMF Executive Board completed the second review under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Pakistan, allowing for an immediate disbursement of SDR 828 million (around $1.1

"In Pakistan, agriculture plays a crucial role in the overall economic development as the sector contributes around 20% to the GDP and employs around half of the employed labor force. The sector also contributes heavily in terms of generating foreign exchange earnings for the country, as most of the major crops, i.e., wheat, sugar, cotton, corn, and rice, are produced in exportable surplus quantities. This makes effective management of the sector both in terms of government policies and private sector input extremely important to not just maintain (if possible, enhance) its share in the GDP but also in terms of national food security. However, the reality is very different from what should be the case – the contribution of agriculture to the country’s GDP has been consistently declining; due to lack of investment in agro-research and inefficient use of water, Pakistan has one of the lowest crop yields (productivity) in the region. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) currently ra