No risk to Pakistan's ratings: Moody's

KARACHI: Political wrangling in Pakistan is hampering the government's ability to focus on economic issues but poses no immediate risk to its sovereign ratings, Moody's Investors Service said on Wednesday.
 
Moody's has a B3 sovereign rating for Pakistan with a stable outlook.

Debt plan well received: Dubai finance chief

DUBAI: Dubai’s proposed $9.5 billion plan to address its embattled conglomerate Dubai World’s debt crisis has been well received, Dubai’s finance chief was quoted as saying on Friday.

Abdulrahman al Saleh, director general of the Dubai finance department, said in remarks to be aired in a television interview that the initial response was a “preliminary indication that the plan would be accepted”.

Dubai World asks for up to eight years to pay off debt

  














 Troubled group gets $9.5bn bailout from Dubai govt

DUBAI: Dubai World proposed on Thursday to repay its creditors in full by issuing two tranches of new debt maturing in five and eight years, after months of talks on restructuring sovereign liabilities that had rattled world markets.

The announcement came shortly after the government of Dubai committed to pump up to 9.5 billion dollars in further support for the troubled group, helping the emirate’s main stock market index to a 4.5 per cent rise by midday

Pak inflation seen at 11pc: IMF

Saturday, January 09, 2010
KARACHI: Pakistan’s expected rate of inflation for the 2009/10 fiscal year has been revised upwards to 11 per cent from an earlier projection of 9 per cent on higher energy costs, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

Pakistan agreed in November 2008 to an IMF emergency loan package of $7.6 billion to avert a balance of payments crisis and shore up reserves. The fund increased the loan to $11.3 billion in July and released a fourth tranche of $1.2 billion last month.

Dubai’s DP World to seek London share listing

Thursday, January 07, 2010
DUBAI: Port operator DP World, part of troubled group Dubai World, said on Wednesday it is to seek a London listing for its shares following disappointment with its market valuation in Dubai.

The company, whose shares currently trade on the Nasdaq Dubai market, could list on the LSE as soon as the second quarter of this year, it said in a statement on the bourse website.

Local investors injected billions into Dubai real estate

Tuesday, December 15, 2009
By Saad Hasan

KARACHI: Pakistanis have invested billions of dollars in Dubai real estate which saw a steep fall in its value in a few days back after a large emirate corporation sought rescheduling of debt to evade a possible default, industry people told The News.

It is hard to establish exactly how much is stuck in the once-booming construction industry since most of the investments were funneled through the illegal network of Hundi brokers, they say. “There are no data available on such investments because money was not transferred from here in the first place,” says Akeel Karim Dhedi, a stock market broker. “Rather the foreign exchange that was supposed to make its way here just stopped there at Dubai.”

Dubai stocks still sliding as debt crisis ‘spreads’

DUBAI: Dubai share prices were battered again in Wednesday trading, falling 6.48 per cent as the Financial Times reported the Gulf emirate is struggling to halt the spread of an alarming debt crisis.
 
The Dubai Financial Market’s main index was trading down 106.12 points at 1,531.93 shortly after midday (0800 GMT), while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange had lost 2.41 per cent to be at 2,477.65 points.

‘The credit downgrades of Dubai’s government-owned companies have triggered an accelerated payment clause on a 2.0-billion-dollar debt issued by the emirate’s utilities provider,’ said a front-page report in the Financial Times.

Saudi banks ‘not in danger over Dubai debt’

Saturday, December 05, 2009
DUBAI: The head of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency said on Friday that the kingdom’s banking sector is not in danger over the Dubai World debt crisis.

“There is no danger to the banking system in the kingdom from the debt of the Dubai World group,” Mohammad al-Jasser told Al-Arabiya news channel, a day before the Saudi stock market opens after a long holiday marred by Dubai’s debt alert which sent jitters throughout global and Gulf markets.

SBP governor sees little Dubai impact

KARACHI: Pakistan sees little if any fallout from Dubai’s debt crisis and expects remittances from its workers overseas to grow despite problems in the Gulf, the country’s central bank governor said on Thursday.

Pakistan’s risk premium is improving and it could see inflows if investors decide to leave Dubai, said State Bank Governor Salim Raza.