During a visit to the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), Sharif told KSE officials and prominent brokers that the funds generated by the sale of bonds will be used to expand the housing sector in the country. PHOTO: PID
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Friday that the government is going to issue bonds worth $1 billion in the near future.
During a visit to the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), Sharif told KSE officials and prominent brokers that the government intends to raise $1 billion worth of foreign exchange from expatriate Pakistanis.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was scheduled to visit the bourse, but Sharif also made a surprise appearance on the occasion.
According to sources that were present during the meeting, Sharif said the funds generated by the sale of bonds will be used to expand the housing sector in the country.
The prime minister seems to be enamoured of long-term debt instruments that raise money from international investors. The government sold sukuk, or Islamic bonds, in the global market last November.
The government had originally planned to sell sukuk worth $500 million, but it doubled the size of the offering in view of the positive response from international investors. Against the oversubscription of $2.3 billion, the government ended up raising $1 billion from the sale of the Islamic bonds.
Earlier on, the government also issued Eurobonds that successfully raised $2 billion. Once again, the funds raised through the long-term debt instrument far surpassed the government’s original target of $500 million.
It was mainly due to the issuance of sukuk and Eurobonds, along with receipt of successive loan tranches from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), that the central bank’s liquid foreign exchange reserves have increased to $10.2 billion.
Sharif vowed to bring down the corporate income tax rate by 1% per year for the rest of his term as prime minister. The corporate income tax rate for companies other than banking institutions currently stands at 33%.
Sharif also said National Tax Numbers (NTNs) will be replaced with Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) following July 1, 2016. It will improve tax collection and reduce processing costs, he said.
With regards to the incentives extended to exporters, the prime minister announced that the rate of refinance for banks under the export finance scheme will be reduced from 7.5% to 6% from February 1.
After disbursing the loan to an exporter, commercial banks typically seek the State Bank’s financing facility to get reimbursement of the same loan. Cheaper refinancing is expected to result in an improved supply of liquidity for exporters.
Reiterating his commitment towards ending the energy shortages in the country, Sharif said the gap between demand and supply of electricity will be brought down to zero before the end of his term as prime minister.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 31st, 2015.
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1732486769-0/image-(8)1732486769-0-270x192.webp "lahore s smog lessons to be learnt")
@Emad Shah: @Blithe: As overseas Pak lover ,asking for voting rights is not an excessive request,not all overseas fellows are automatically aligned with PTI, nor have time for troll-activities. Expatriats have physically set up business and employment opportunities and have been rewarded with fleeing from Pakistan with barely their life and limb intact.
@Emad Shah:
PTI trolls like yourself don't understand that it is a big deal to test the capital markets .
Well done to pml-n to test the capital markets . Notany countries in MENA are able to do so these days
They want the expats money, but won't give them the right to vote.
This is not free money. Pakistan has to pay it back with interest. What is the interest rate? Overseas Pakistanis are not going to buy these bonds unless the interest rate is high enough to warrant the sovereign risk.
Or, may be the money will be ultimately defaulted by Pakistan like in the case of Greece.
Could be money laundering tool.
Mr N sharif has a credibility problem. In his last government he froze forghien exchange accounts converted to local money against his commitment. It will be interesting to see what assurances are given. Lot of Pakistanis may be interested. But you have to keep your word.
NS now you remember Overseas Pakistanis, what about giving us our voting rights? I would rather give money to Shaukat Kanam hospital than put money in your bucket