WASHINGTON: In-charge of South Asia affairs at the US State Department, Alice Wells on Wednesday expressed pleasure over improvement in Pakistan’s credit outlook by Moody’s Investors Service, an American credit rating agency.
Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, Wells said that the efforts made by the Finance Ministry of Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund Program had yielded the positive results.
Also Read: Moody’s upgrades Pakistan’s outlook to stable
She also advised Pakistan, “With bold economic reforms, Pakistan can boost growth, attract private capital, and expand exports.”
On Dec 2, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh had announced that Moody’s had upgraded Pakistan’s outlook from ‘Negative’ to ‘Stable’.
“Moody’s upgrades Pakistan’s outlook to B3 ‘Stable’ from ‘Negative’. The upgradation of outlook to Stable is affirmation of the government’s success in stabilising the country’s economy and laying a firm foundation for robust long term growth,” Abdul Hafeez Shaikh had tweeted.
“The rating affirmation reflects Pakistan’s relatively large economy and robust long-term growth potential, coupled with ongoing institutional enhancements that raise policy credibility and effectiveness, albeit from a low starting point. These credit strengths are balanced against structural constraints to economic and export competitiveness, the government’s low revenue generation capacity that weakens debt affordability, fiscal strength that will remain weak over the foreseeable future, as well as political and still-material external vulnerability risks,” read a press release issued by Moody’s.
