PM Shehbaz underscores Pakistan’s potential for high-yield foreign investment

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said Pakistan offered significant opportunities for high-yield, secure and mutually beneficial foreign investment as the government continued efforts to strengthen the economy during his address at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) headquarters in Paternoster Square.

PM Shehbaz became the first Pakistani premier to open a trading session at the LSE, where he also formally inaugurated Pakistan’s $3 billion dual-tranche sovereign Eurobond.

“We have strengthened our macroeconomic indicators, which are very promising and augur very well for the future,” he said.

The ceremony was attended by LSE Group Chief Executive Officer David Schwimmer, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Adviser on Privatisation Mohammad Ali, Pakistan High Commissioner Tipu Usman, members of the Pakistani delegation and British officials.

The premier said the $3 billion dual-tranche sovereign Eurobond reflected the efforts undertaken by the finance ministry and other government institutions to stabilise the economy.

He attributed the transaction to structural reforms, digitalisation of the economy and measures aimed at putting the country’s finances back on track.

The issuance, described as Pakistan’s largest international bond transaction, attracted nearly $6 billion in global investor demand — almost twice the amount raised — from a geographically diverse institutional investor base.

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The transaction is the first issuance under Pakistan’s renewed Global Medium-Term Note (GMTN) Programme and follows the country’s inaugural Panda Bond and successive sovereign credit-rating upgrades.

It forms part of the government’s debt-management strategy aimed at diversifying funding sources, extending maturities and reducing refinancing risks.

Referring to the government’s privatisation programme, PM Shehbaz cited Pakistan International Airlines and First Women Bank and said the government was moving towards divesting several other state-owned enterprises.

He said such entities should be operated by the private sector and identified privatisation as an area where Pakistan and the United Kingdom could enhance cooperation.

The premier also referred to the Gulf crisis and its impact on emerging economies, saying Pakistan’s economic trajectory could have been stronger had the crisis not erupted.

“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 said.

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PM Shehbaz said changing geopolitical conditions had prompted investors to reassess the relative safety of different markets, adding that Pakistan needed to draw lessons from the evolving situation.

Addressing Schwimmer, the prime minister sought the LSE chief executive’s guidance on increasing Pakistan’s engagement with international financial markets beyond sovereign borrowing and attracting greater investment into the country.

Shehbaz said opening the LSE session was a significant moment for Pakistan and represented a step towards rebuilding the country’s relationship with the London Stock Exchange.

He also invited Schwimmer to visit Pakistan.

The prime minister also praised Aurangzeb, other economic ministers, government secretaries and officials for their role in efforts to strengthen the economy.

PM Shehbaz meets global finance giants in London

Later, PM Shehbaz met with senior executives of Barclays, JP Morgan, Citi, BlackRock and Rothschild & Co in London, where he sought a greater role for global banks in Pakistan’s financial sector and urged leading financial institutions to invest in the country during a series of meetings, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.

“The engagements underscored growing international financial sector interest in Pakistan’s economic reform trajectory and improving investment climate,” the statement said.

The prime minister met Mohammad Kamal Syed, Head of Private Bank and Wealth Management UK at Barclays, and welcomed the bank’s interest in Pakistan, according to the statement.

He briefed Syed on the government’s macroeconomic stabilisation measures and encouraged Barclays to explore opportunities in Pakistan’s financial sector, it added.

PM Shehbaz also met a high-level JP Morgan delegation led by Matthieu Wiltz, Co-CEO for EMEA, where they discussed deepening the partnership across capital markets, trade finance and investment banking, the statement said.

The prime minister invited the firm to expand its footprint in Pakistan. At the same time, the delegation reaffirmed its interest in sovereign debt capital markets and corporate banking opportunities, according to the statement.

The premier also met a group of senior Citi officials led by David Livingstone, Chief Client Officer.

According to the statement, Shehbaz commended the bank’s long-standing presence in Pakistan and encouraged an expansion of its corporate and institutional banking services in the country.

In his meeting with a BlackRock delegation comprising Gordon Fraser and Sam Vecht, Co-Heads of Emerging Markets and Frontiers, and Emily Fletcher, Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst, the prime minister invited increased allocations to Pakistani equities and fixed income within the firm’s frontier markets strategy, the statement said.

Both sides also emphasised the importance of sustained policy consistency in building investor confidence, it added.

During his meeting with Rothschild & Co, represented by Lord Mark Sedwill, Chair of Geostrategic Advisory, and Majid Ishaq, Head of UK Investment Banking, discussions centred on Pakistan’s geo-economic priorities and potential advisory collaboration on capital markets and investment strategy, according to the statement.

“Across all engagements, the visiting executives expressed confidence in Pakistan’s economic reform momentum and reaffirmed their institutions’ commitment to deepening engagement with the country’s financial sector,” the statement said.

The meetings “reflect the growing traction” of Pakistan’s economic reform programme among leading global financial institutions and mark a significant step in the government’s broader effort to strengthen international investor confidence and attract sustained capital flows into the country, it added.