ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Tuesday JP Morgan, the largest bank in the United States and a major global financial services institution, had reaffirmed its interest in the country’s sovereign debt markets during talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in London, as Islamabad seeks to deepen ties with international investors.

Access to those markets matters for Pakistan as it seeks external financing and tries to maintain investor confidence after returning to international bond markets this year.

Pakistan resumed selling dollar-denominated bonds to international investors in April after a four-year gap, raising $750 million. It followed that with a $3 billion bond sale in September. Those sales allowed the government to borrow from global investors, with the debt to be repaid with interest. The talks with JP Morgan did not announce a role for the bank in a further sale.

The government had discussed capital-market financing with JP Morgan before, including at a meeting in April. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb also addressed an investor conference hosted by the firm in London earlier this month.

On Tuesday, Sharif met a JP Morgan delegation led by Matthieu Wiltz, its co-chief executive for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. They discussed capital markets, trade finance and investment banking, according to the PM’s office, which announced no bond mandate or financing commitment.

“The delegation reaffirmed its interest in sovereign debt capital markets and corporate banking opportunities,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.

In separate meetings, Sharif asked BlackRock, a US investment manager, to consider increasing its holdings of Pakistani shares and bonds. He encouraged British bank Barclays to explore opportunities in Pakistan’s financial sector and Citi, a US bank already operating in the country, to expand its services for companies and other institutional clients. Sharif also discussed possible capital-markets and investment-strategy advisory work with Rothschild & Co, a financial advisory firm.