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Bloomberg
Pakistan has hired banks for a possible foreign-currency bond offering.
The government has mandated Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Credit Suisse group and Standard Chartered, the people said.
The South Asian nation is looking to raise funds after reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund on resumption of a $6 billion bailout program that was secured in 2019 to avoid bankruptcy. Pakistan is also separately planning to issue a $500 million green note in the next few months to help boost its development of
hydroelectric power.
There were no replies to requests for comment from the finance ministry secretary and media team. Muhammad Umar Zahid, director debt at the Ministry of Finance, said in a webinar last month that the country expected to raise more than $1.5 billion in global bonds if market conditions were conducive. It was setting up a medium-term note program that would keep it registered for 12 months instead of a single transaction, he said.
Borrowing costs in debt markets globally have jumped in recent weeks after a spike in rates fueled by rebounding economic activity around the world. Pakistan is also currently contending with an increase in coronavirus cases that has seen new restrictions imposed in most major cities.