Maria Zulfiqar Khan

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, today, became the first prime minister from Pakistan to open the London Stock Exchange trading session and formally inaugurated Pakistan’s landmark US$3 billion dual-tranche sovereign Eurobond. During his address at the LSE headquarters in Paternoster Square, the prime minister highlighted Pakistan's immense potential to attract high-yield, safe, and mutually beneficial foreign investment. He said in recent years, they had worked very hard to strengthen Pakistan’s economy. “As I speak, we have strengthened our macroeconomic indicators, which are very promising and augur very well for the future,” he added. The ceremony was attended by CEO of London Stock Exchange Group David Schwimmer, Finance Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Aurangzeb, Advisor on Privatization Mohammad Ali, Pakistan High Commissioner Tipu Usman, members of Pakistani delegation and relevant British authorities. The prime minister's visit to London Stock Exchange underscored Pakistan's return to global capital markets and reflected renewed international investor confidence in the country's economic trajectory. The prime minister, in his remarks, further said that the latest contribution of their finance minister and his team to arrange $3 billion worth of dual-tranche sovereign Eurobond spoke volumes about their hard work, deep-rooted structural changes, the digitization of economy, and taking all the necessary measures to put their national economy back on track. He mentioned the privatization of Pakistan International Airlines and First Women Bank and informed that the government was now moving towards offloading many other state enterprises, stressing that these must be run by the private sector. He also suggested that this was an area where Pakistan and the UK could work very closely. The prime minister opined that if the Gulf crisis hadn't erupted, the country would have really taken off. “Like other emerging economies, we are negotiating this challenge while also playing an important role as a peacemaker, mediating between the United States and Iran. I hope that we will continue in this direction,” he added. He also commended the efforts of the finance minister and other related economic ministers, secretaries and government officials who had done a remarkable job in rebuilding Pakistan’s economy. Referring to the Gulf crisis, he emphasized upon learning new lessons as the investors were now trying to evaluate and assess safer markets. Addressing the CEO of London Stock Exchange, the prime minister said that they definitely like to seek his guidance and advice on how to further engage international financial markets to play a role in Pakistan, not just in terms of sovereign debt but through very attractive investments. The prime minister expressing his happiness on his participation to open London Stock Exchange session, said that it was most definitely not only a moment of great happiness for all of them but also a step towards rebuilding their wonderful connection with the London Stock Exchange. He also invited David Schwimmer to visit Pakistan. The issuance, Pakistan's largest-ever international bond transaction, attracted nearly US$6 billion in global investor demand, almost twice the amount raised, from a broad and geographically diversified institutional investor base. The transaction marks the first issuance under Pakistan's renewed Global Medium-Term Note (GMTN) Programme, following the country's successful inaugural Panda Bond and successive sovereign credit-rating upgrades. It forms part of Pakistan's broader debt-management strategy to diversify funding sources, extend maturities, and reduce refinancing risk. Earlier, upon his arrival the prime minister and his delegation were warmly received by the London Stock Exchange Group CEO and senior officials of the London Stock Exchange Group.