Fitch revises Pakistan's outlook to negative, affirms at 'B-' | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
July 12, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2025
Fitch revises Pakistan's outlook to negative, affirms at 'B-'

Global Economy

Reuters
20 July, 2022, 09:25 am
Last modified: 20 July, 2022, 09:36 am

Related News

  • China-Bangladesh-Pakistan co-op open and transparent, not targeting any third country: Yao Wen
  • Search on for survivors of Pakistan building collapse
  • Pakistan to lead UN Security Council in July
  • Pakistan, China eye new bloc replacing SAARC
  • Pakistan can import textile waste from Bangladesh: BGMEA

Fitch revises Pakistan's outlook to negative, affirms at 'B-'

Reuters
20 July, 2022, 09:25 am
Last modified: 20 July, 2022, 09:36 am
The Fitch Ratings logo is seen at their offices at Canary Wharf financial district in London,Britain, March 3, 2016. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause
The Fitch Ratings logo is seen at their offices at Canary Wharf financial district in London,Britain, March 3, 2016. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause

Ratings agency Fitch on Tuesday revised its outlook on Pakistan to negative from stable, citing a deterioration in the country's external liquidity position and financing conditions as well as the risks from renewed political volatility.

Fitch affirmed Pakistan's Long-Term Foreign-Currency (LTFC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at "B-", but dollar bond prices fell sharply.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) board was likely to approve a resumption in bailout payments, it said, but added there were considerable risks to the programme's implementation and to Pakistan's access to external finances after June 2023.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Ratings agency Moody's changed Pakistan's outlook to negative from stable on June 2.

Pakistan faces economic turmoil, with fast depleting foreign reserves, a declining currency and widening fiscal and current account deficits.

The economic meltdown has been compounded by political instability and a delay in the resumption of the IMF bailout since the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took over from ousted premier Imran Khan in April.

Sovereign dollar bonds issued by Pakistan were down as much as 10 cents in the dollar to record lows after Fitch's move.

Suffering the sharpest losses, the 2025 bond saw bids as low as 48 cents in the dollar, while longer-dated issues, such as the 2051 bond, were bid at just over 44 cents in the dollar, Tradeweb data showed.

The premium demanded by investors to hold the bonds blew out to record levels, with the sovereign spread over US Treasuries widening to 1,816 basis points on the JPMorgan EMBI Global Diversified index.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange's KSE100 Index fell 978 points or -2.36% to close at 40,389.07 points on Tuesday.

The Pakistani currency fell 2.7% against the US dollar to 221.5 rupees per greenback.

The rupee is especially under pressure from the falling reserves and delays in foreign inflows from the IMF and other sources, Fahad Rauf, head of research at Ismail Iqbal Securities, told Reuters.

Reserves have fallen to as low as $9.8 billion, hardly enough to pay for 45 days of imports.

"If Pakistan is able to maintain fiscal and monetary discipline, the health of the economy would improve and an outlook upgrade would follow," Rauf said.

Fitch said the political volatility could undermine the fiscal and external adjustment, especially in the environment of slowing economic growth and high inflation, which stood at 21.3% in June.

Pakistan's central bank has already pushed policy interest rates to 15%. It forecasts gross domestic product growth in the 2022-23 financial year at between 3% and 4%, less than the government's budget estimate of 5%.

The IMF reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan last week to pave the way for the disbursement of $1.17 billion. If this is approved by the board, the scope of the original $6 billion bailout agreed in 2019 will rise to $7 billion.

World+Biz / South Asia

Fitch / Fitch Ratings Inc / Pakistan / Pakistan economy

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Caught between a rock and a hard place. Cartoon: TBS
    Bangladesh's Trump tariff dilemma: Caught between a rock and a hard place?
  • Bangladeshi garment workers make clothing in the sewing section of a factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh, April 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain/File Photo
    Some Walmart garment orders from Bangladesh on hold due to US tariff threat
  • Bangladesh and US hold tariff talks on 11 July 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    Dhaka, Washington to continue inter-ministerial dialogue as tariff talks end without full consensus

MOST VIEWED

  • In terms of stream of education, girls maintained their excellence as well. Photo: TBS
    SSC 2025: Girls dominate boys by over 5%
  • Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
    SSC, equivalent results: Pass rate drops to 68.45%, GPA-5 also declines
  • The overall pass rate across all boards this year, 68.45%, is significantly lower than last year's. Photo: Focus Bangla
    SSC 2025: Rajshahi board records highest pass rate, Barishal lowest
  • How S Alam’s Global Islami Bank cooked Tk2,259cr loss into Tk128cr profit
    How S Alam’s Global Islami Bank cooked Tk2,259cr loss into Tk128cr profit
  • Representational image. Photo: TBS
    SSC 2025: 73.63% pass rate among technical students, 68.09% at Madrasahs
  • Economist Abul Barkat; Photo: Courtesy
    Economist Abul Barkat arrested in graft case

Related News

  • China-Bangladesh-Pakistan co-op open and transparent, not targeting any third country: Yao Wen
  • Search on for survivors of Pakistan building collapse
  • Pakistan to lead UN Security Council in July
  • Pakistan, China eye new bloc replacing SAARC
  • Pakistan can import textile waste from Bangladesh: BGMEA

Features

After India's visa restriction, China's Kunming is drawing Bangladeshi patients

After India's visa restriction, China's Kunming is drawing Bangladeshi patients

16h | Panorama
Photo: Collected/BBC

What Hitler’s tariff policy misfire can teach the modern world

1d | The Big Picture
Illustration: TBS

Behind closed doors: Why women in Bangladesh stay in abusive marriages

1d | Panorama
Purbachl’s 144-acre Sal forest is an essential part of the area’s biodiversity. Within it, 128 species of plants and 74 species of animals — many of them endangered — have been identified. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS

A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Asian economies devastated by Trump's tariffs

Asian economies devastated by Trump's tariffs

14m | TBS World
Renowned economist Abul Barkat imprisoned

Renowned economist Abul Barkat imprisoned

14h | TBS Today
All of Iran's uranium still intact, Israel claims

All of Iran's uranium still intact, Israel claims

14h | TBS World
Trump-Netanyahu in new strategy on Gaza issue

Trump-Netanyahu in new strategy on Gaza issue

16h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net