S&P ups Pakistan foreign currency debt view to positive

Standard & Poor's said it affirmed the Islamic Republic of Pakistan's B+ foreign currency debt rating, BB local currency long-term debt rating and B short-term sovereign rating.

At the same time, S&P revised its outlook on the foreign currency rating to positive from stable and kept a stable outlook on the local currency rating.

The outlook revision reflects sharp declines in the government's external debt indicators and structural improvements that, over time, should help Pakistan's export capacity, the agency said. Extensive microeconomic reforms over the past several years have improved Pakistan's growth prospects, and Pakistan's net general government debt to current account receipts has improved to an estimated 81% at year-end 2005, from 244% at year-end 2000.

A similar revision in outlook, however, was not effected for the local currency outlook. S&P said the government has suspended treasury bond auctions for nearly a year and a half, it has taken repeated recourse to central bank financing and general government fiscal deficit is likely to rise above 4% of GDP for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, up from 3.3% the year before.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.