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Bloomberg
Pakistan has called in the army to take control of
violent demonstrations in the capital city, where
protesters and police were killed in day-long clashes.
The army moved in as a “preventive measure†after police suspended an operation to disperse a protesting religious group following the death of two officers, according to Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal. Six protesters also were killed in clashes, according to the Dawn newspaper. Demonstrators reoccupied and blocked the main
highway that connects Islamabad to other cities, police spoke-sman Mohammad Naeem said on Sunday.
The upheaval may unnerve investors ahe-ad of a government pl-an to sell international bonds in the coming week. Pakistan could raise as much as $2 billion from the sale of conventional and suk-uk bonds, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said in an interview. The political risks will make it hard to raise the required amount without increasing the yields, according to Shamoon Tariq, Stockholm-based vice chief investment officer at Tundra Fonder AB. “We have seen politics playing an important role in decision making of investors in†developing countries, Tariq said.
Clerics and supporters of a little-known right-wing religious group — Tehreek-e-Labaik — have been blocking a main highway for more than two weeks, effectively besieging Islamabad. The group is demanding the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for making changes to an oath lawmakers have to take.