ISLAMABAD: Pakistani financial analysts on Thursday said the country’s economic stability would improve following reported debt rollover commitments from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which is expected to pave the way for a final nod for a new $7 billion loan program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Pakistan secured debt rollover commitments from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a year, according to a report published by Bloomberg on Tuesday. Last month, the country reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF for a new $7 billion loan program that is pending a final nod from the lender’s executive board.
Grappling with soaring inflation, low foreign exchange reserves and a weak currency, Pakistan has struggled since 2022 to keep its fragile $350 billion economy afloat.
The South Asian nation completed a short-term $3 billion IMF program in April this year which helped Islamabad avert a sovereign default in 2023. However, Islamabad reportedly needed financing commitments from bilateral donors to get a final nod from the IMF board, expected later this month, for the fresh bailout.
“The overall economic stability will improve with the debt rollover and expected IMF loan,” Dr. Vaqar Ahmed, the joint executive director of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), told Arab News.
“The IMF board meeting could lead to a credit rating upgrade and enhance investor confidence.”
Dr. Ahmed said the debt rollovers and IMF nod would improve Pakistan’s access to international capital markets, which would allow the government to issue lower-rate sovereign bonds and panda bonds.
Panda bonds are Chinese yuan-denominated bonds issued by Pakistani entities in China’s bond market, allowing them to raise funds in the Chinese currency, diversify funding sources, and access Chinese investors, thereby reducing reliance on USD-denominated debt.
Dr. Ahmed said an improved credit rating could also reduce future borrowing costs, providing the government with the much-needed space to implement the key energy and state-owned enterprises reforms.
He warned the government against falling short of implementing IMF-mandated reforms on energy, taxation and state-owned enterprises.
The IMF has asked Pakistan to undertake reforms to broaden its tax base, improve management of state-owned enterprises, strengthen competition, secure investment, enhance human capital, and scale up social protection through increased generosity and coverage in major welfare programs.
“IMF will look at these reforms critically and any slippage could lead to delays in the program,” Dr. Ahmed added.
However, he said relying on bilateral creditors for frequent debt rollovers was not “sustainable” as frequent rollovers reduce debt market options and increase the cost of borrowing in the longer run.
Pakistani economist Sakib Sherani agreed the debt rollovers would help Pakistan gain access to international capital markets.
“Both the debt rollover and the IMF loan will be credit-positive for the country,” Sherani told Arab News. “And will improve the chances of accessing international capital markets.”
However, he said the debt rollover provides the government a “significant” but short-term space and that Pakistan’s IMF program has been “poorly designed.”
“The IMF program on paper should help in furthering structural reforms but in reality, has been poorly designed and suffers from perverse incentives and unintended consequences that will prove to be antithetical to the needed reforms,” he explained.
Sherani said Pakistan was on course to secure the IMF’s nod for the $7 billion loan. He called for a broader debt restructuring to make Pakistan’s external debt situation “more sustainable.”
“Reliance on short-term bilateral debt rollovers is kicking the can down the road rather than addressing the debt overhang the country faces,” Sherani concluded.
Pakistan’s economic stability to ‘improve’ after debt rollovers from Saudi Arabia, UAE, China — experts
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Pakistan’s economic stability to ‘improve’ after debt rollovers from Saudi Arabia, UAE, China — experts
- Debt rollovers to pave way for International Monetary Fund’s final nod for $7 billion loan program
- Rollovers to also improve Pakistan’s credit rating, leading to reduced borrowing costs, says experts
Pakistan says global commodities trader Gunvor Group ‘keen’ to invest in petroleum sector
- Last month, Gunvor Group signed an agreement to acquire 50 percent shares of Pakistan’s Total Parco oil marketing company
- PM Shehbaz Sharif informs Gunvor Group chairman of reforms undertaken to increase foreign investment in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Global commodities trader Gunvor Group has expressed its “keen” interest in investing in Pakistan’s petroleum sector, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said on Monday.
The statement came after Sharif’s meeting with Gunvor Group Chairman Torbjorn Tornqvist and Total Energies Vice President Oceania & Southeast Asia Mehmet Celepoglu
During the meeting, the prime minister highlighted the rapid reforms that were underway to increase investment and business activities in Pakistan, according to PM Sharif’s office.
“Chairman Torbjorn Tornqvist expressed the Gunvor Group’s keen interest in investment in the petroleum sector of Pakistan,” it said in a statement.
The prime minister was informed that the Gunvor Group had signed an agreement in August to acquire 50 percent shares of Total Parco Pakistan Limited, a subsidiary of French oil giant Total Energies.
A joint venture between Total Energies and Pak-Arab Refinery Limited in Pakistan, Total PARCO Pakistan Limited has a retail network of more than 800 service stations and is involved in fuel logistics and lubricants.
“The prime minister directed the relevant authorities to provide all possible facilities to the Gunvor Group,” Sharif’s office said.
Since avoiding a default last year, Islamabad has been making attempts to boost foreign investment and trade to drive economic growth in the South Asian country.
In recent months, Pakistan has reached multiple investment deals with a number of countries, mainly the Gulf states, in infrastructure, energy, maritime, ports and other sectors.
Pakistan reports sixth case of mpox virus in Islamabad
- Patient admitted to the isolation ward of Islamabad’s Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences
- Mpox is mild but people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of complication
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani health authorities on Monday confirmed a sixth case of mpox virus in the federal capital of Islamabad, saying the patient was admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital.
The Border Health Staff (BHS) detected mpox symptoms in a 44-year-old man during screening at the Islamabad International Airport, according to the federal health minister.
Since confirming its first mpox case last month, Pakistan has implemented stringent screening protocols at all airports and border crossings for the screening of travelers.
“The sixth case of mpox has been reported in Pakistan,” a health ministry spokesperson said in a statement. “The travel history of the 44-year-old man is from Gulf countries.”
Patients who contract mpox get flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. Mpox is usually mild but can kill. Children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of complications from the infection.
On Sept. 8, health authorities declared Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province mpox-free after all four patients previously infected with the virus recovered.
Dr. Mukhtar Bharath, the prime minister’s coordinator for health, said the health ministry was working closely with provincial authorities to monitor new cases and around 630,000 passengers had so far been screened at airports.
“Effective measures are being taken to protect people from mpox,” Dr. Bharath said.
The World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency over the spread of a new mutated strain of mpox named clade I, which first emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has since spread to several countries, leading to increased monitoring and preventive measures worldwide.
Sindh minister orders security for polio worker who says she was raped on duty
- The polio worker testified before a local court on Friday that she was raped while she was on duty
- But the woman later retracted her statement amid threats by her husband for being an ‘adulteress’
KARACHI: Provincial Health Minister Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho on Monday took notice of alleged rape of a polio worker in the Jacobabad district of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province and instructed police to provide her round-the-clock security.
The incident occurred in Allah Baksh Jakhrani village of Jacobabad. The polio worker testified before a local court on Friday that she was raped while on duty, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported. A day later, the polio worker retracted her statement and said she was robbed, reportedly amid threats by her husband for being a ‘Kari,’ an adulteress, who deserves death.
The Sindh health minister has instructed police to provide security around the polio worker’s current residence and requested Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to provide the woman with monetary compensation to help her take care of her children.
“Our female polio workers are the backbone of the polio program and protecting them has always been the utmost priority of the program,” Dr. Pechuho said. “I am taking every necessary action to ensure that she gets the justice she deserves.”
On Sept. 9, Pakistan launched a week-long, nationwide polio campaign amid a spike in militant attacks. The potentially fatal, paralyzing disease mostly strikes children under the age of five and typically spreads through contaminated water.
Two days later, a roadside bomb hit a vehicle carrying officers assigned to protect health workers conducting polio immunization in the northwestern South Waziristan district, in the same province, wounding six officers and three civilians. The militant Daesh group later claimed responsibility for the attack.
Anti-polio campaigns in Pakistan are regularly marred by violence. Militants target vaccination teams and police assigned to protect them, claiming that the campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
Since January, Pakistan has reported 17 new cases of polio, jeopardizing decades of efforts to eliminate polio in the country. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in which the spread of polio has never been stopped.
Pakistan recorded 44% rise in workers remittances from July-August— state media
- Pakistan’s workers remittances have reached $5.94 billion dollars this fiscal year, says state media
- Credits country’s investment-friendly policies, government crackdown against smuggling of dollars for surge
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has seen a “significant increase” in workers remittances at the beginning of the current fiscal year from July-August, state-run media reported on Monday, crediting the surge to the Special Investment Facilitation Council’s (SIFC) policies and the government’s crackdown on the smuggling of foreign currency.
Workers remittances form a cornerstone of Pakistan’s economy, significantly contributing to the country’s foreign exchange reserves and reducing the current account deficit. Remittances also play a major role in supporting Pakistan’s external account, especially at a time when the country is recording small gains after a prolonged economic crisis that diminished its foreign reserves and weakened its national currency.
“There has been a significant increase of forty-four percent in remittances at the beginning of the current fiscal year due to the support of the SIFC,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
“According to the statistics released by the State Bank of Pakistan, remittances have reached 5.94 billion dollars with an increase of 1.81 billion dollars compared to 4.12 billion dollars in July-August last year.”
The SIFC was set up in July last year to serve as a “one window operation” to address any concerns of foreign investors, with a special focus on attracting funds from Gulf nations. The government has recently actively promoted the employment of Pakistanis abroad, especially in the Middle East, to ensure a steady increase in investments, crucial for the country’s economic growth.
The state broadcaster said that the government’s crackdown against illegal money transfer systems such as Hundi and the smuggling of dollars led to a stable exchange rate and increase in foreign reserves.
Pakistan’s government last year launched a crackdown against currency smugglers and hoarders when the cost of the US dollar soared, as people preferred informal banking channels to remit money to relatives in Pakistan.
Daesh claims responsibility for weekend bombing that killed 2 cops in Pakistan
- An explosion on Saturday targeted Pakistani police vehicle in Kuchlak town in southwestern Quetta city
- Analysts say latest violence sign of increasing coordination between separatists, other militants in Pakistan
QUETTA, Pakistan: Militant group Daesh claimed responsibility for the weekend bombing that killed two police officials in restive southwestern Pakistan, officials said Monday.
Analysts say the latest violence is a sign of increasing coordination between militants and separatists who for years have been targeting security forces and civilians in the oil-and gas-rich Balochistan province bordering Iran and Afghanistan.
Daesh said in a statement on Sunday that it detonated an explosive device a day earlier targeting a Pakistani police vehicle in Kuchlak town near Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. Pakistani officials say the attack killed two officers and wounded two others on a highway.
The Balochistan Liberation Army has previously claimed such attacks, but Daesh has carried out similar attacks in recent months.
BLA last month killed dozens of people in gun and suicide attacks on passenger buses, police stations and military facilities.
Abdullah Khan, a senior defense analyst and managing director of the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, told The Associated Press that the latest claim by Daesh indicates that BLA and militants are now working together on attacks in Balochistan and elsewhere in the northwest.
Balochistan is the scene of a long-running insurgency, with an array of separatist groups staging attacks mainly on security forces. The separatists demand independence from the central government.
