ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has raised $3 billion through a dual-tranche Eurobond sale, its largest single international capital market transaction, after the offering attracted nearly $6 billion in orders, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.
The transaction comprised $1.75 billion through a 5.5-year bond carrying a 7.5 percent coupon and $1.25 billion through a 10-year bond with a 7.9 percent coupon, the ministry said in a statement.
The order book was almost twice the amount issued and drew demand from institutional investors across global markets and continents, the ministry said.
𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘙𝘌𝘓𝘌𝘈𝘚𝘌, 𝘗𝘜𝘉𝘓𝘐𝘊𝘈𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕 𝘖𝘙 𝘋𝘐𝘚𝘛𝘙𝘐𝘉𝘜𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕 𝘐𝘕, 𝘖𝘙 𝘐𝘕𝘛𝘖, 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘜𝘕𝘐𝘛𝘌𝘋 𝘚𝘛𝘈𝘛𝘌𝘚, 𝘈𝘜𝘚𝘛𝘙𝘈𝘓𝘐𝘈, 𝘊𝘈𝘕𝘈𝘋𝘈 𝘖𝘙 𝘑𝘈𝘗𝘈𝘕.
𝗣𝗮𝗸𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗨𝗦$𝟯 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 — 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲…
— Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan (@Financegovpk) September 2, 2026
The transaction is a major milestone in Pakistan’s renewed access to international capital markets. The strong demand demonstrated investor confidence in the country’s improving macroeconomic and credit fundamentals.
Investor confidence
The latest issuance extends Pakistan’s access to longer-term external financing after the government returned to the international bond market earlier this year.
The ministry said the competitive pricing across both maturities, particularly the strong demand for the 10-year tranche, demonstrated Pakistan’s ability to mobilise sizeable longer-term financing.
Pakistan’s most expensive Eurobond in recent years carried an 8.25 percent interest rate and was issued more than a decade ago. That bond matured several years later and has since been repaid.
The 7.5 percent and 7.9 percent coupons on the latest bonds are below that earlier level, although the maturities are longer.
The government has sought to use renewed market access to diversify its external financing sources and reduce reliance on shorter-term and potentially more expensive borrowing.
Improvement in sovereign credit profile
The Ministry of Finance said the transaction was significant beyond the $3 billion raised because it marked the first issuance under Pakistan’s renewed strategic Global Medium-Term Note (GMTN) Programme.
The programme is intended to provide a platform for more diversified access to international capital markets, the ministry said.
It follows Pakistan’s inaugural Panda Bond issuance and improvements in the country’s sovereign credit profile.
The ministry said its objective was not simply to raise additional debt but to pursue active sovereign liability management.
That strategy includes diversifying financing sources, extending debt maturities, reducing refinancing and rollover risks, and creating opportunities to replace shorter-term or more expensive obligations with longer-duration financing where economically beneficial.
“Borrow better. Extend maturities. Diversify funding. Reduce refinancing risk. Improve the sovereign debt profile,” the ministry said, describing the approach as a shift from simply borrowing towards actively managing the sovereign balance sheet.
The government has also pursued early retirement of domestic debt before maturity, the ministry said, adding that extending the same discipline to external financing was part of the broader strategy.
Return to international markets
Pakistan returned to the international Eurobond market in April, initially raising $500 million through a three-year bond under its GMTN Programme.
The bond carried a 6.975 percent coupon and was subsequently increased to $750 million after the government exercised a $250 million green-shoe option in response to stronger-than-expected investor demand. The bond is due to mature in April 2029.
Pakistan also repaid a $1.4 billion Eurobond that matured in April.
The repayment and subsequent issuance allowed the government to re-establish a pricing benchmark in international debt markets after several years in which Pakistan relied heavily on multilateral, bilateral and commercial financing.
The latest transaction goes further by offering five-year and 10-year maturities, testing investor appetite for Pakistani sovereign debt over longer periods.
Sovereign credit-rating upgrades
The Finance Ministry said Pakistan’s economic trajectory over the past three years had increasingly been recognised through successive sovereign credit-rating upgrades and renewed access to international capital markets.
The latest order book, it said, provided a market-based indication of that renewed confidence.
The ministry highlighted the depth of demand, the geographically diversified institutional investor base and the substantial interest in the 10-year instrument as signs of improving confidence in Pakistan’s medium- and long-term economic outlook.
