SINGAPORE, Oct 10: Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services on Friday assigned its ‘BB-minus’ long-term local currency debt rating to three Pakistan Investment Bonds totalling Rs8.7 billion ($151 million) that were issued earlier this week by the government of Pakistan.

These newly rated bonds carry coupon rates of six per cent, seven per cent, and eight per cent, and mature in Oct 2006, 2008, and 2013, respectively.

Standard & Poor’s sovereign credit ratings on Pakistan are: foreign currency ‘B/B’ and local currency ‘BB-/B’. The outlook on the long-term sovereign ratings is stable.

“The ratings on Pakistan are supported by its comfortable external liquidity position, and progress made in economic stabilization,” said Standard & Poor’s sovereign credit analyst, Chih Wai Liew.—Reuters