ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has paid back around $1 billion on maturity offive-year international Sukuk, reported a local english newspaper.
This update comes around the same time as Moody’s, a credit rating agency,upgraded Pakistan’s credit rating outlook from ‘negative’ to ‘stable’.
The country had launched $-denominated Islamic bond worth $1 billion with afive-year tenor in the international bond market in November 2014, duringthe PML-N government’s tenure. The sovereign bonds were issued at a rate of6.75%.
It got matured in November 2019 and accordingly, the State Bank of Pakistan(SBP) has repaid $1 billion, borrowed to build the foreign exchangereserves. The report quoted an SBP official as he confirmed that a paymentof $1 billion was made on Monday against the Islamic bond.
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The said payment from the SBP’s foreign exchange reserves will be reflectedin the next weekly forex report. However, as per estimates, with thisrepayment, the SBP’s reserves will most likely slip below $7 billion,quoted a source in the report.
Moody’s highlighted in its report that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserveadequacy remains low. It further said that foreign exchange reserveadequacy will take time to rebuild.
