Standard & Poor’s increased Pakistan's credit rating

LONDON: Pakistan’s long-term sovereign credit rating was raised one level to B- from CCC+ by Standard & Poor’s with a stable outlook, citing the International Monetary Fund’s additional bailout. “The upgrade reflects Pakistan’s improved external liquidity position, coupled with its successes in implementing corrective policy measures to rectify an unsustainable fiscal trajectory,” S&P said in a statement today. The IMF this month increased Pakistan’s loan package to $11.2 billion, approving an extra $3.2 billion. That prompted Moody’s Investors Service to last week raise its outlook on the South Asian country’s debt ratings to stable from negative. “A narrowing current account deficit, helped by buoyant remittance inflows, and successive disbursals of the IMF and other multilateral loans have reduced the risk of near-term external payment difficulties for Pakistan,” S&P said.