Saturday, 24 September, 2022 I 27 Safar, 1444 I rs 15.00 I Vol XIII No 86 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
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RIME Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Friday sensitizing the world about the devastating super floods said that Pakistan’s treasury and people were paying the dual cost of climate injustice, high global warming and inaction despite emitting less than 1% of greenhouse gases. “It is high time we took a pause from the preoccupations of the 20th century to return to the challenges of the 21st. The entire definition of national security has changed today, and
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REgRETS 30M AFgHANS LEFT WITHOUT FUNCTIONAL ECONOMy & BANKINg SySTEM
unless the leaders of the world come together to act now behind minimum agreed agenda, there will be no earth to fight wars over. Nature will be fighting back, and for that humanity is no match”, the Prime Minister said while addressing 77th session of the UN general Assembly. “As I stand here today to tell the story of my country, Pakistan, my heart and mind have not been able to leave home. No words can describe the shock we are living through or how the face of the country lies transformed.” “I have come here to explain first hand, the scale and magnitude of this climate catastrophe that has pushed one-third of my country under water in a super storm that no
one has seen in living memory,” he added. The Prime Minister said that for 40 days and 40 nights a biblical flood poured down on us, smashing centuries of weather records, challenging everything we knew about disaster, and how to manage it. “Even today, huge swathes of the country are still under-water, submerged in an ocean of human suffering. In this ground zero of climate change, 33 million people, including women and children are now at high risk from health hazards, with 650,000 women giving birth in makeshift tarpaulins.” “More than 1500 of my people have perished in the great flood, including over 400 children. Far more are in peril from disease and malnutrition. As we speak, millions of climate migrants are still looking for dry land to pitch their tents on, with heart-breaking losses to their families, their futures and their livelihoods,” he added. The Prime Minister said the early estimates suggested that more than 13000 kms of metalled roads have been damaged, over 370 bridges have been swept away, a million homes have been destroyed and another million damaged. “More than a million farm animals have been killed. Four Million acres of crops have been washed away, stripping the people of their breadbasket, and damage of an unimaginable scale,” he added. The prime minister told the world body that Pakistan’s urgent priority right was to ensure rapid economic growth and lift millions out of destitution and hunger. To enable any such policy momentum, Pakistan needed a stable external environment, he added.
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Nawaz seeks acquittal in NAB reference under new laws LAHORE staff report
Former prime minister and PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif on Friday filed a petition in an accountability court in Lahore challenging the court decision to declare him proclaimed offender in a plot allotment case and sought his acquittal. The former premier who is currently living in the United Kingdom on medical grounds has sought relief from the court under the NAB (Amendment) Ordinance, 2022. His lawyer Qazi Sabah Advocate also pleaded with the court
to exonerate Nawaz Sharif under the amended NAB Ordinance. The lawyer also filed a petition
seeking Nawaz’s acquittal. Qazi Sabah argued that under the new NAB ordinance,
the National Accountability Bureau could not initiate an investigation into a case involving corruption less than Rs500 million and his client was facing a reference in which he was accused of committing corruption to the tune of Rs130 million. He said that the court had ordered to confiscate Nawaz’ property after declaring him proclaimed offender. He beseeched the court to rescind the case against the PMLN supremo, besides ordering to restore his confiscated property and issue order for his acquittal in the reference.
Ishaq Dar likely to return next week; will take oath as Senator ISLAmAbAD staff report
Former finance minister Ishaq Dar has decided to return to Pakistan before October 7, confirming that he will probably be in Pakistan next weekend. He said that he will take oath as a Senator immediately after his return. Addressing rumours regarding him replacing Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, he said: “I will perform whatever duty is assigned to me by [PML-N supremo] Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.” He revealed that Shehbaz will return to London after attending the United Nations general Assembly summit being held in New york. “I will adhere to whatever is decided after consultations with Shehbaz and Nawaz,” he maintained. Earlier today, an accountability court in the federal capital suspended the arrest warrants of the former finance minister till October 7 in a case pertaining to him being a proclaimed offender. Commenting on the court’s decision, he said that he will have to return before that. Accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir issued the orders today and directed the authorities to not arrest the ex-federal minister — who is currently in London — upon his arrival in Pakistan. The judge said that once Dar returns to Pakistan, the court will see whether it should revoke his arrest orders or not. “The arrest warrants will be permanently suspended once Dar appears before the court in person,” the judge said. The politician moved to accountability court on Thursday after the Supreme Court dismissed Dar’s appeal in a corruption case following his decision to withdraw the plea. In 2017, an accountability court, while hearing a corruption reference against Dar, declared him a proclaimed offender due to his continued absence from the proceedings.
Eurobonds slump amidst debt relief confusion KARACHI ariba shahid
Pakistan’s dollar bonds, or Eurobonds, slumped internationally on Friday as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif went on record stating that Pakistan needs debt relief. According to details, the Eurobond yielding 5.625 per cent dropped 11 cents to trade at 81.9 cents on the dollar, whereas the 7.375 per cent Eurobond dropped 7 cents and traded at 40.33 cents on the dollar. However, no major change was witnessed in Credit Default Swap. Sharif’s statement sent the market into a whirlwind. Within minutes, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail had to step in to control the frenzy. He stated that Pakistan is seeking debt relief from bilateral creditors and not commercial bondholders.
As per Ismail, Pakistan is set to repay the $1 billion sovereign bond due in December. However, friendly countries have given their word to roll over Pakistan’s debt. Pakistan is seeking debt relief from The Paris Club’s bilateral creditor countries. The minister stated that Pakistan does not need, nor is it seeking any relief on commercial bank debt or Eurobond debt. “Since it is a thinly traded market, some selling pressure on Pak dollar bonds could have resulted in a sharp price fall, we believe,” said Umair Naseer of Topline Securities while speaking to Profit. “However, expected multilateral and bilateral flows post floods are also likely to support pressure on foreign exchange reserves of the country. According to news reports, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB),
Asian Infrastructure Bank, and a few friendly countries have already committed flood-related aid/funding which could be to the tune of $1.5-2bn,” Naseer added. WhAt ArE EuroBoNDS? Eurobonds are a debt instrument that allows the issuer to raise money through debt. These are different from regular bonds because they are issued in a currency other than the home currency of the country or market in which it is issued. They are issued so that the issuer, in this case, the government, can raise capital whilst maintaining flexibility to issue them in another currency. Just because the name has ‘Euro’ in it does not mean the government is issuing bonds in Europe. They are also called external bonds. In local terms, PIBs are rupee-de-
nominated and floated in the onshore market, meaning Pakistan. Eurobonds
are offshore in nature and in this case, are dollar-denominated.