06 February 2004	Friday	14 Zilhaj 1424

KARACHI, Feb 5: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and his adviser Dr Ashfaq are formally floating Pakistan's Eurobonds at a roadshow on Friday afternoon in Singapore.

"We will announce the amount and other details of the bonds at the end of roadshows when it will finally be floated on February 12 at London," the finance minister said on Thursday evening at the Sindh Secretariat a few hours before he left for Singapore.

On his return from Dubai in September last year where he had held a series of meetings with senior officials of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and ministers of several countries, Shaukat Aziz had announced in Karachi the government's intention of floating a Eurobond by "end of 2003 or early 2004".

The debt office of the finance ministry carried out a due diligence for the flotation of the bond and the government has finally decided to go ahead.

Shaukat Aziz and his adviser Dr Ashfaq will also hold roadshows of the Eurobonds at Hong Kong before final launch at London on February 12. The State Bank governor and the finance secretary will also hold similar roadshows at Abu Dhabi and Frankfurt before joining the finance minister in London on February 12.

The finance minister announced launching of a 100-page memorandum on the Eurobonds next week at a website that will give all the relevant details. "This marks Pakistan's return to the bond market," he said.

The finance minister said that Pakistan maintained an impressive debt profile, positive economic indicators and poised to exceed the targeted 5.3 per cent growth in the national economy.

"We want to attract foreign investors," he said while explaining the purpose of the flotation of bond and added that this facilitated flow of direct foreign investment in the country.