Fitch revises Pakistan’s outlook to negative

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, however, affirmed Pakistan’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency (LTFC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at “B-”.

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.

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.

The Pakistani rupee fell heavily against the U.S. dollar, losing nearly 6 rupees early on Tuesday to 122 per dollar in interbank trading.

Similarly, the Pakistan Stock Exchange Ltd KSE100 Index fell 978 points or -2.36 per cent to close at 40,389.07 level on Tuesday, its website showed.

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