(Updates with closing figures, adds detail on record high in paragraph 3 and IMF comment from staff report in final paragraph.)

KARACHI, May 13 (Reuters) - Pakistan's benchmark share index closed at a record high of 73,822, up 1%, after it touched a lifetime peak on Monday, breaching the key level of 74,000 points.

The index has surged 78.6% over the past year and is up 14.1% in the year to date.

During intraday trading, the index hit a high of 74,114 points. On Friday, it closed at a record high of 73,085 points, above the key level of 73,000 for the first time.

Pakistan last month completed a short-term $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme, which helped stave off sovereign default, but the government has stressed the need for a fresh, longer-term programme.

An IMF mission led by its chief will meet with authorities in Pakistan this week to discuss a new programme, ahead of Islamabad beginning its annual budget-making process for the next financial year, the IMF resident representative for Pakistan said on Saturday.

Amreen Soorani, head of research at JS Global Capital, said stock market valuations were recovering as talks with the IMF and reforms progressed, and foreign investors showed interest.

She said slowing inflation had also helped the rally.

Pakistan's consumer price inflation slowed to 17.3% in April from a year earlier, the lowest reading in nearly two years and below the finance ministry's projections.

The country has struggled with inflation above 20% since May 2022. Inflation jumped as high as 38% in May 2023, as Pakistan navigated reforms as part of an IMF bailout programme.

"Corporate profits are strong, the market's (price-earning) multiple is still only around 4, which is well below the historical average of 6, including the distressed times in this average," she added.

Despite that, on Friday in its staff report on the country ahead of talks on a longer term programme, the IMF said downside risks for the Pakistani economy remained exceptionally high, and "political uncertainty remains significant."

(Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by Toby Chopra and Bernadette Baum)