Shehbaz Sharif opens LSE session as Pakistan marks $3bn Eurobond

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif opened the London Stock Exchange trading session on Wednesday, becoming the first Pakistani prime minister to do so, and formally inaugurated Pakistan's $3 billion dual-tranche sovereign Eurobond at the exchange's Paternoster Square headquarters.

The ceremony followed this month's Eurobond sale, which the prime minister said drew nearly $6 billion in orders against the $3 billion raised. Addressing the gathering, he said Pakistan had "strengthened our macroeconomic indicators, which are very promising and augur very well for the future", and credited Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and his team with arranging the dual-tranche issue, pointing to what he described as deep-rooted structural changes and the digitisation of the economy. The event was attended by London Stock Exchange Group chief executive David Schwimmer, Finance Minister Aurangzeb, Advisor on Privatisation Mohammad Ali, Pakistan High Commissioner Tipu Usman, members of the Pakistani delegation and British authorities.

A Eurobond is an international debt security issued outside the country of the currency in which it is denominated. Despite the name, it has no direct connection to Europe or the euro currency.

The prime minister cited the privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines and First Women Bank, saying the government intended to divest many other state enterprises because they should be run by the private sector. He also said that had the Gulf crisis not erupted the country "would have taken off", adding that Pakistan was negotiating the challenge while mediating between the United States and Iran, and that investors were increasingly assessing safer markets. He told the London Stock Exchange Group chief executive that Pakistan wanted his guidance on deeper engagement with international financial markets, for sovereign debt but also for investment, and invited him to visit Pakistan.