Pakistan will not seek debt restructuring from Paris Club creditor nations, the country finance minister Ishaq Dar said on Sunday.
Dismissing market rumours that Islamabad might extend maturities for its bonds, Dar told a news conference in Islamabad that Pakistan will fulfill all multilateral, international, and bond obligations.
Moody’s last week downgraded Pakistan’s credit rating from B3 into so-called junk territory at Caa1, citing external risks and concerns about Pakistan’s ability to secure required financing to meet its needs in the next few years.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last month made an appeal to the Paris Club for a debt moratorium after the country’s already struggling economy was hit by devastating floods that his government estimates will cause economic losses up to $30 billion.
“We have decided not to go to Paris Club,” Dar said, adding that in consultation with Sharif it was decided that it wasn’t the nation’s interest to ask for a restructuring.
