Pakistan's $33.5 billion external financing needs are fully met for the financial year 2022-2023, the central bank chief said on Saturday, adding that “unwarranted” market concerns about its financial position will dissipate in weeks.
Fears have risen about Pakistan's economy as its currency fell nearly 8 per cent against the US dollar in the last trading week, while the country's forex reserves stand below $10bn with inflation at the highest in more than a decade.
“Our external financing needs over the next 12 months are fully met, underpinned by our ongoing IMF [International Monetary Fund] programme,” the acting governor of Pakistan's State Bank, Murtaza Syed, told Reuters in an e-mailed reply to questions.
Pakistan last week reached a staff level agreement with the IMF for the disbursement of $1.17bn in critical funding under resumed payments of a bailout package.
“The recently secured staff-level agreement on the next IMF review is a very important anchor that clearly separates Pakistan from vulnerable countries, most of whom do not have any IMF backing,” he said.
However, the lender's board needs to approve the agreement before the disbursement, which is expected in August, before which there remain prior policy actions to be fulfilled, according to sources.
But some question Pakistan's ability to meet external financing needs, including debt obligations, despite the IMF funding.
Mr Syed played down those concerns, saying that Pakistan's public debt profile, one of the “main flashpoints” for markets these days, is a lot better than in vulnerable countries with high public debt.
The country's public debt-to-GDP ratio is 71 per cent.
“Pakistan’s external debt is low, of relatively long maturity, and on easier terms since it is heavily skewed towards concessional multilateral and official bilateral financing rather than expensive commercial borrowing,” he said.
In a recent presentation to international investors reviewed by Reuters, Mr Syed said $33.5bn in gross external financing needs would be met “comfortably” with $35.9bn in available financing.
Most of the financing was shown from multilaterals, oil payment facilities, and rollovers of bilateral financing, and the heaviest financing needs were in the second quarter of fiscal year 2022-2023.
The presentation also compared the situation in Pakistan to Sri Lanka, which recently defaulted, and said: “Pakistan tightened monetary policy and allowed the exchange rate to depreciate as soon as external pressures began.”
It added that Sri Lanka’s fiscal position had been much worse than Pakistan’s, with primary deficits three to four times larger since the pandemic.
Mr Syed said Pakistan is being unfairly grouped with more vulnerable countries amid panic in global markets due to a commodity supercycle, tightening by the Federal Reserve and geopolitical tensions.
“Markets are responding to these shocks in an unfairly broad-brush way, without paying enough attention to Pakistan’s relative strengths,” he said.
“We expect this reality to dawn in the coming weeks and the unwarranted fears around Pakistan to dissipate.”
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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
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Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
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For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
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Hogarth
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
