Pakistan, May 12 -- The International Monetary Fund has urged Pakistan to adopt strict measures against trade-based money laundering before announcing the federal budget for fiscal year 2026-27. The Fund raised concerns over suspicious financial activities in trade, banking, real estate and non-financial business sectors, while demanding stronger oversight and faster enforcement actions to improve financial transparency and reduce illegal money flows across the economy.

Moreover, the IMF highlighted weaknesses in monitoring suspicious transactions and stressed the need to improve the exchange of beneficial ownership information. The Fund also asked authorities to strengthen financial supervision and increase suspicious transaction report...