ISLAMABAD: Pakistan plans to raise $250 million through its first-ever yuan-denominated Panda bonds by the end of 2025, Pakistani state media reported on Sunday, amid Islamabad’s efforts to diversify funding sources and strengthen macroeconomic resilience.
Islamabad is being advised on the issuance of Panda bonds by the China International Capital Corporation, a partially state-owned financial services company. However, the latest figure shared in Jan. is lower than the $300 million targeted by Pakistan last year.
Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has confirmed that the issuance of Panda bonds will feature credit enhancement from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the state-run Pakistan TV reported.
“From our perspective, this is a very important trade, a funding diversification discussion,” Aurangzeb was quoted as saying by the broadcaster.
“We have previously done Euro issuances and US dollar Islamic support, so we have been late, quite frankly, in terms of tapping the second-largest and second-deepest capital market in the world.”
