Fitch Ratings has upgraded Pakistan’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating to ‘CCC+’ from ‘CCC’.
According to Fitch, the upgrade reflects greater certainty over continued availability of external funding, in the context of Pakistan’s staff-level agreement with the IMF on a new 37-month seven billion dollars Extended Fund Facility.
It said that strong performance on the previous, more temporary IMF arrangement helped Pakistan narrow fiscal deficits and rebuild foreign exchange (FX) reserves, and further improvements are likely.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has welcomed Pakistan’s Triple C Plus rating by global credit rating agency Fitch.
In a statement today, he commended the hard work and efforts of Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the finance team for this achievement.
The Prime Minister said the country and the nation are getting the fruits of the sacrifice of politics for the sake of the state today in the form of economic improvement.
He said the international rating of triple C plus is a global recognition of the prudent economic policy of the government.
Shehbaz Sharif said his government is working day and night on the agenda of economic reforms and it will not take a backseat before delivering the dividends of this policy to the people.
He said reports of Fitch and other international financial institutions are important for the economic improvement of Pakistan.
The Prime Minister expressed the resolve to move forward on the path of economic improvement of Pakistan with more effort and passion. He hoped that the new IMF program would further strengthen Pakistan’s efforts for economic improvement.
