IMF deal hopes nudge Pakistan bonds towards year-long highs

Wednesday, 17 April 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A trader counts Pakistani rupee notes at a currency exchange booth in Peshawar, Pakistan - REUTERS

LONDON (Reuters): Pakistan’s dollar-denominated government bonds climbed towards their highest level in over a year on Monday as the country appeared to be closing in on a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) support program.

Bonds were up as much as 0.5 cents after Pakistan’s state minister for revenue, Muhammad Azhar, tweeted that an “agreement in principle has been reached on all outstanding issues with IMF” after a visit to Washington by Finance Minister Asad Umar.

The long-delayed rescue package would be Pakistan’s 13th IMF bailout since the late 1980s and comes with a worsening economic outlook for the South Asian nation of 208 million people.