Pakistan finance chief calls for stronger emerging market voice during Saudi conference

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb speaks with Arab News at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies in Saudi Arabia on February 9, 2026. (Alulaeme.com)
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Updated 12 February 2026
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Pakistan finance chief calls for stronger emerging market voice during Saudi conference

  • Aurangzeb tells Saudi state media developing economies must assume larger global role
  • Minister says AlUla conference can strengthen coordination among emerging economies

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday called for developing economies to play a greater role in shaping global economic governance in an interview on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies in Saudi Arabia.

The conference, hosted by the Kingdom’s Finance Ministry, brings together top government functionaries, central bank governors and policymakers from emerging markets to discuss debt sustainability, macroeconomic coordination and structural reforms amid global economic uncertainty.

In a conversation with the Saudi Press Agency, Aurangzeb described the conference as a timely platform for dialogue at a moment of heightened geopolitical tensions, trade fragmentation and rapid technological change, including advances in artificial intelligence.

“It is not merely about discussions but about translating deliberations into concrete policy actions and execution over the course of the year,” he said, according to a statement circulated by the Finance Division in Islamabad.

The minister said emerging markets’ growing share of global output and growth should be matched by greater influence in international decision-making.

He noted these economies must strengthen collective dialogue and coordinated policy responses to address shared challenges, adding that the global landscape had evolved significantly since the inaugural edition of the conference.

Aurangzeb expressed confidence that the outcomes of the AlUla Conference would contribute to strengthening coordination among emerging economies and reinforcing their collective voice in shaping a more inclusive and resilient global economic order, the statement added.

 


Rating firm S&P says it won’t rush Iran war downgrades, sees risks for countries like Pakistan

Updated 12 March 2026
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Rating firm S&P says it won’t rush Iran war downgrades, sees risks for countries like Pakistan

  • Agency says it is monitoring indebted energy importers as higher oil prices strain finances
  • Gulf economies seen better placed to weather shock, though Bahrain flagged as vulnerable

LONDON: S&P Global ‌said it would not make any knee-jerk sovereign rating cuts following the outbreak of war in the ​Middle East, but warned on Thursday that soaring oil and gas prices were putting a number of already cash-strapped countries at risk.

The firm’s top analysts said in a webinar that the conflict, which has involved US and Israeli strikes ‌against Iran and Iranian ‌strikes against Israel, ​US ‌bases ⁠and Gulf ​states, ⁠was now moving from a low- to moderate-risk scenario.

Most Gulf countries had enough fiscal buffers, however, to weather the crisis for a while, with more lowly rated Bahrain the only clear exception.

Qatar’s banking sector could ⁠also struggle if there were significant ‌deposit outflows in ‌reaction to the conflict, although there ​was no evidence ‌of such strains at the moment, they ‌said.

“We don’t want to jump the gun and just say things are bad,” S&P’s head global sovereign analyst, Roberto Sifon-Arevalo, said.

The longer the crisis ‌was prolonged, though, “the more difficult it is going to be,” he ⁠added.

Sifon-Arevalo ⁠said Asia was the second-most exposed region, due to many of its countries being significant Gulf oil and gas importers.

India, Thailand and Indonesia have relatively lower reserves of oil, while the region also had already heavily indebted countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka whose finances would be further hurt by rising energy prices.

“We ​are closely monitoring ​these (countries) to see how the credit stories evolve,” Sifon-Arevalo said.