LONDON: Sovereign dollar bonds extended a decline on Thursday, with Tradeweb data showing shorter-dated maturities falling as much as 1.3 cents.

The slide began on Wednesday after the government said it will launch criminal proceedings against former prime minister Imran Khan for allegedly exposing official secrets.

The 2024 and 2025 notes have fallen neary 5 cents from last week’s high, forfeiting the gains they notched since the International Monetary Fund board signed off on a $3 billion funding deal on July 12.

The 2024 bond was trading at 77 cents on the dollar, and the 2025 was at 59.65 cents on the dollar at 0836 GMT. The former was more than 30 cents above its lowest level in March, while the latter was more than 20 cents above its 2023 low.