Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, in a meeting with Hongta Securities Chairman Jing Feng in Beijing on Monday, emphasised Pakistan’s push to strengthen capital markets and diversify financial options, highlighting efforts to deepen engagement with Chinese and global institutional investors as part of country’s broader economic reform agenda.
During the meeting, the finance minister highlighted Pakistan’s recent economic performance and reaffirmed his government’s commitment to continuing structural reforms aimed at achieving sustainable and inclusive economic growth, read a statement.
Aurangzeb further underscored the growing confidence of international credit rating agencies in Pakistan’s economic outlook. He noted with satisfaction the recent upgrades, including Moody’s raising Pakistan’s rating from Caa2 to Caa1 (Stable Outlook), Fitch upgrading from CCC+ to B- (Stable Outlook), and Standard & Poor’s (S&P) similarly upgrading from CCC+ to B- (Stable Outlook).
During the meeting, both sides discussed avenues for strengthening cooperation in capital markets and enhancing financial sector linkages between Pakistan and China.
The Finance Minister emphasised that Pakistan is working to diversify its financial options and deepen its engagement with leading global and Chinese institutional investors.
“Pakistan is firmly committed to its reform agenda and greatly values its partnership with Chinese investors. Together, we can unlock new opportunities that will strengthen our economies and deepen our financial cooperation,” Aurangzeb said.
Last week, Aurangzeb, in an event, outlined Pakistan’s plans to re-enter international capital markets, beginning with the issuance of a ‘Panda Bond’. He expressed optimism that the inaugural issuance could take place before the end of the year.
“Alongside Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, I will visit China next week. We will discuss our plans to return to international capital markets, starting with the Panda Bond. We are hopeful the inaugural issue will happen before the year ends,” he said back then.
He added that if credit ratings and spreads continue to improve, Pakistan could explore other global markets during the current fiscal year.
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