Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb said that Pakistan was eager to tap the Yuan bond market and would encourage corporate stock listings in Hong Kong to bolster and broaden its ties with China.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Nikkei Asia, Minister Aurangzeb said that an initial issuance of a panda bond should take place by the end of this year. The move is expected to be worth around $200 million to $250 million, but \u201cit\u2019s not a question of amount,\u201d the minister said on the sidelines of the annual Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is important is that we do go for an inaugural issue and then, once it\u2019s successful, we can always keep it on tap,\u201d he said. Aurangzeb said that not using the world\u2019s second-largest capital market until now had \u201cbeen a miss on our part.\u201d \u201cWe are quite keen that during this calendar year, we do,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Aurangzeb expressed hope for reaching the \u201cB\u201d rating zone in due course by carrying out reforms in accordance with the IMF\u2019s terms, he stressed the importance of \u201cdiversifying\u201d the country\u2019s funding sources.<\/p>\n
He said, Hong \u201cKong\u2019s stock market was also part of the picture, adding that an equity listing of Service Long March\u2014 a Pakistani-Chinese joint venture that makes tires for trucks and buses \u2013 in the city is in sight\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese JVs want to do equity [fund] raising, and in the international markets, Hong Kong is a very, very obvious choice for these joint ventures,\u201d he said, eyeing future opportunities for primary and secondary listings by Pakistani companies in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
He emphasized that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was a flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative, a core economic and geopolitical drive spearheaded by Chinese President Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n
To a question on how the IMF\u2019s conditions might affect planned projects with China \u2013 as offering new tax incentives and establishing new economic zones is not allowed \u2013 the Pakistani minister brushed off such concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not really as big a deal as it\u2019s being made\u201d out to be, he said, since there are many existing projects that first need to be implemented.<\/p>\n
He said the government attaches \u201cthe highest attention at the highest level\u201d to the safety issue, not only for Chinese but for all foreign nationals in the country. He added that the situation on the ground \u201cis actually much better than what we see in the news and on various channels.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for tangible progress on reform and restructuring, Aurangzeb pointed to data points such as falling inflation, increased foreign exchange reserves, and a record-breaking performance of the local stock market.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of this has moved us in the right direction, including the biggest story for us, which is inflation,\u201d which dropped from nearly 38% in May 2023 to 3% this month, the minister maintained.<\/p>\n
At the same time, he admitted that his country \u201chas not really come through\u201d on the execution and implementation part yet, especially in four key areas \u2014 taxation, the energy sector, state-owned enterprise reform and public finance. For instance, the ratio of taxes to gross domestic product still lags at 10.8%, versus the target of 13.5%.<\/p>\n
Despite a failed attempt to sell the loss-making national flagship carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) last fall, he said the government was \u201cvery hopeful\u201d about relaunching the effort in the coming months.<\/p>\n
He said, all sides needed to agree on fundamental points to move \u201cthe economy forward because we must stay away from boom and bust cycles.\u201d \u201cWe are now in the 25th IMF program, and we want to, you know, ensure that this is the last program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
To do that, he believes the country needs to firmly establish an export-led growth model, attract more foreign direct investment and go back to the international capital market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb said that Pakistan was eager to tap the Yuan bond market and would encourage corporate stock listings in Hong Kong to bolster and broaden its ties with China. In an interview with Nikkei Asia, Minister Aurangzeb said that an initial issuance of a panda bond should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-455518","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n