Comment by Riaz Haq on July 24, 2025 at 11:32am

S&P Global lifts Pakistan's credit rating 'B-' from 'CCC+', outlook stable | Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/sp-global-lifts-pakistans-cred...

LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) - S&P Global raised Pakistan's sovereign credit rating to 'B-' from 'CCC+' and placed it on a 'stable' outlook on Thursday, saying the country's finances and reserves had been stabilised by International Monetary Fund support.
"The stable outlook reflects our expectations that continued economic recovery and government efforts to enhance revenue will stabilize fiscal and debt metrics," ratings agency S&P said in a statement on the move.

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https://www.dawn.com/news/1926320

Ratings agency S&P Global raised Pakistan’s sovereign credit rating to ‘B-’ from ‘CCC+’ and placed it on a ‘stable’ outlook on Thursday, saying the country’s finances and reserves had been stabilised by International Monetary Fund (IMF) support.

“The stable outlook reflects our expectations that continued economic recovery and government efforts to enhance revenue will stabilise fiscal and debt metrics,” S&P said in a statement on the move.

“We also expect that sustained official financing will support Pakistan in meeting its external obligations, and that the country will continue to roll over its commercial credit lines over the next 12 months.”

Pakistan’s longer-dated international bonds rallied after the upgrade, with the 2051 maturity gaining 1.6 cents to be bid at 84.85 cents on the dollar, according to Tradeweb data.

The 2031 and 2036 maturities also gained around 1 cent, while shorter-dated maturities posted smaller gains.

Last week, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb urgedthe leading US rating agency — Moody’s — to improve Pakistan’s credit rating and help its return to international capital markets at favourable conditions.

Moody’s had upgraded Paki­stan’s credit rating by one notch in August 2024 to Caa2 from Caa3 (downgraded in February 2023 due to suspension of the IMF programme) and changed its outlook to positive from stable for improving macroeconomic conditions, including liquidity and external position from very weak levels.

Global ratings agency Fitch had upgraded Pakistan’s foreign currency credit rating to ‘B-’ from ‘CCC+’ in April, citing increased confidence in the country’s progress on narrowing its budget deficits.

Comment by Riaz Haq on Sunday

India's foreign debt jumps 10% to USD 736.3 bn in March 2025: RBI

https://www.etnownews.com/economy/indias-foreign-debt-jumps-10-to-u...

India's external debt increased by 10 per cent to USD 736.3 billion as of March-end 2025 compared to USD 668.8 billion in the year-ago period, the Reserve Bank said on Friday. As per GDP percentage, the external debt increased to 19.1 per cent at the end of the recently concluded financial year from 18.5 per cent a year ago, it added, as reported by news agency PTI.

In a year which saw some volatilities in the currency markets, the RBI said the "valuation effect" due to the appreciation of the US dollar against the rupee and other currencies amounted to USD 5.3 billion, while if one were to exclude the valuation effect, external debt would have increased by USD 72.9 billion instead of USD 67.5 billion in the year, PTI reported.
The overall debt comprised of USD 261.7 billion of loans taken by non-financial corporations, USD 168.4 billion by the government and USD 202.1 billion by deposit-taking corporations, excluding the central bank, the RBI said.

At March-end 2025, long-term debt (with an original maturity of above one year) was USD 601.9 billion, an increase of USD 60.6 billion over the year, as reported by news agency PTI.

The share of short-term debt (with original maturity of up to one year) in total external debt declined to 18.3 per cent at March-end 2025 from 19.1 per cent a year ago, but the ratio of short-term debt to foreign exchange reserves increased to 20.1 per cent in FY25 against 19.7 per cent at the end of March 2024.

US dollar-denominated debt remained the largest component of India's external debt with a share of 54.2 per cent at March-end 2025, followed by debt denominated in the rupee (31.1 per cent), yen (6.2 per cent), SDR2 (4.6 per cent), and euro (3.2 per cent), the RBI said.

Loans remained the largest component of external debt, with a share of 34 per cent, followed by currency and deposits (22.8 per cent), trade credit and advances (17.8 per cent) and debt securities (17.7 per cent), reported PTI.

Comment by Riaz Haq yesterday

"Beggar" Pakistan is the 4th largest country and the 6th largest entity donor to the World Food Program. "Rich" India is missing from the top contributors list:

https://www.wfp.org/funding/2024

The top 15 largest contributors to global food programs, primarily the UN World Food Programme (WFP), are a mix of national governments and international organizations. The United States consistently ranks as the largest single donor, followed by Germany. Other significant contributors include the European Commission, various European nations, Japan, and the UN CERF (Central Emergency Response Fund).
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
National Governments:
United States: The largest bilateral donor, contributing billions of dollars annually, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Germany: The second-largest donor, contributing hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Other European Nations: Including, but not limited to, France, Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland.
Japan: A significant contributor to the WFP.
Canada:
Pakistan:
International Organizations:
European Commission:
UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF):
Other UN Funds and Agencies (excluding CERF):
Other Notable Contributors:
Private Donors: Globally, private donors also contribute significantly to the WFP.
South Korea:
Australia:
United Kingdom:
Saudi Arabia:


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