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Bold governor strives for new frontiers
Shamsad Akhtar, State Bank of Pakistan
Shamsad Akhtar, governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, has an ambitious vision for the bank to have a greater say in economic policy, she tells Karina Robinson.
A complex predicament
With a growing financial industry and a host of new sectors set to develop, will Pakistan hold its own amid market slowdown and troubled domestic politics? Karina Robinson reports from Karachi.
A new paradigm
Pakistan is implementing a new development paradigm for the country’s banking sector with the aim of bringing the country’s poor and rural population into the system, writes Dr Shamshad Akhtar.
Banks set pace for Pakistan
Pakistan looks set to achieve a goal many thought impossible: economic stability. Jules Stewart reports.
Financial reform needs a progressive mindset
Shamshad Akhtar, governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, talks to Jules Stewart about the influence of the US macroeconomy on Pakistan’s economic landscape and the importance for the developing world in keeping open this window to the West.
Privatised industry will pave the way to wealth
Zahid Hamid, minister for privatisation and investment, talks to Jules Stewart about his ambitious plans for a modern, industrialised Pakistan.
Promise in Pakistan
If Pakistan successfully launches an Islamic-compliant treasury bond, it will lift the growth potential of the country’s embryonic Islamic banking sector. Farhan Bokhari reports from Karachi.
PAKISTAN
S Ali Raza
National Bank of Pakistan
In an increasingly competitive and strengthening banking environment in Pakistan, the country’s largest bank, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), has again produced an outstanding performance with record pre-tax profits, healthy growth and the highest ROE of the four major banks.
Pakistan
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan $500m notes due 2009
ABN AMRO, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan were joint lead managers and joint bookrunners
The transaction marked Pakistan’s re-entry into the international markets after a four-year absence, and its success was a clear sign of investor confidence in the country’s economic policies and reform agenda. Four times oversubscription and tight pricing clearly underlined investors’ appetite to buy into the growth story.
Pakistan achieved pricing of 370bp over five-year US Treasuries, at the tighter end of revised price guidance of 6.75% to 6.85%. This was achieved on the back of solid investor demand across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Strong secondary market performance, with spreads tightening 10bp almost immediately, was the confirmation – if needed – of the deal’s success.
