ISLAMABAD: Ten leading global lenders have expressed interest in Pakistani eurobonds as the government plans to raise about $1 billion within the next two months to shore up foreign exchange reserves, a top finance ministry official said on Wednesday.
A eurobond, or external bond, is a fixed-income debt instrument denominated in a currency not native to the country where it is issued. About $1.5 billion worth of eurobonds were part of Pakistan’s financing plan in the past fiscal year but were delayed due to adverse market conditions.
The new bonds are expected to be issued in December or January, Kamran Afzal, the ministry’s special secretary, told reporters on Wednesday.
“10 leading banks have submitted their financial and technical bids to structure the bond issue,” Afzal was quoted by local media as saying.
Bank of America, Bank of China, and several other lenders from Europe and the Gulf region are reportedly among the lenders interested.
“Their bids will be evaluated next week and it is expected that two consortiums will be hired to put in place structures for floating the Eurobond and the Sukuk bond,” the Express Tribune newspaper said.
Afzal said the government would first float the Eurobond and then the Islamic bond also, depending on the advice of financial advisers. This will be the first capital market transaction by the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan and will help Pakistan meet its external debt obligations such as the repayment of major loans, including $3 billion to Saudi Arabia.
The Group of 20 nations (G20), representing the world’s biggest economies, last month suspended debt payments of Pakistan and dozens of other developing countries to help support their fight against the coronavirus pandemic. G20 has agreed to extend debt suspension for these countries until June 2021.
Ten top global banks vie for Pakistan’s $1 billion eurobonds
https://arab.news/nzb89
Ten top global banks vie for Pakistan’s $1 billion eurobonds
- Bank of America, Bank of China, and other lenders from Europe and the Gulf are reportedly among the bidders
- The money will help Pakistan meet its external debt obligations such as the repayment of major loans
Traders say Karachi plaza fire caused $54 million losses as search for bodies continues
- Authorities say at least 67 people died in January 17 blaze at Gul Plaza complex
- Recovery teams search unstable debris, Sindh government announces compensation
ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: A deadly fire at a major shopping plaza in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi has caused estimated losses of up to Rs15 billion ($53.6 million), a traders representative said this week, as authorities continue rescue and recovery operations and struggle to identify dozens of victims killed in the blaze.
The fire broke out on Jan. 17 at Gul Plaza, a densely packed commercial building in the heart of Karachi and home to over 1,200 shops, trapping workers and shoppers inside and burning for more than 24 hours before being brought under control. At least 67 people have been confirmed dead, officials say, while recovery teams remain at the site amid fears of further structural collapse.
Tanveer Pasta, president of the Gul Plaza Market Association, said all shops in the plaza were destroyed, estimating total losses at up to Rs15 billion ($53.6 million).
“There were big importers sitting here,” he told Arab News on Thursday. “Just three days before this fire, 31 [shipping] containers were unloaded.”
Earlier this week, the Sindh government had announced compensation of Rs10 million ($35,720) for each person killed in the fire and said affected shopkeepers would also receive financial assistance.
Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab said the city administration remained focused on rescue operations and on handing over victims’ remains to their families as quickly as possible. His remarks came after he visited the homes of several victims, according to a statement from his office.
“Rescue personnel of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation are still engaged in the rescue operation, while the administration is making every effort to hand over [remains] of the victims, loved ones to their families at the earliest,” Wahab was quoted as saying.
Identification has been significantly slowed by the condition of the bodies recovered from the site, Karachi Police Surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed said.
Most remains were found in fragments, she said, complicating forensic identification and prolonging the process for families waiting for confirmation.
Relatives of more than a dozen missing persons have remained near the destroyed plaza and at hospitals even after providing DNA samples. Some families have criticized what they describe as the slow pace of recovery and identification.
Wahab said the provincial government had committed to supporting affected families and rehabilitating victims.
“The Sindh government would also not sit back until the victims are fully rehabilitated and that all possible support would be provided [to them],” he said.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the cause of the fire. Police have said preliminary indications point to a possible electrical short circuit, though officials stress conclusions will only be drawn after investigations are completed.
Deadly fires are a recurring problem in Karachi, a city of more than 20 million people, where overcrowded markets, aging infrastructure, illegal construction and weak enforcement of safety regulations frequently contribute to disasters. Officials say a blaze of this scale is rare.
