Moody's Investors Service has affirmed Pakistan's B3 rating and maintained a stable outlook in its Global Credit Research made available on Tuesday.

According to Moody's credit analysis, although Pakistan's medium-term growth outlook — backed by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) — is strong, "the government's debt burden is high and fiscal deficits remain relatively wide".

Moody's credited the CPEC and International Monetary Fund's three-year Extended Fund Facility programme for a strengthened outlook for growth.

It also identified that despite being stronger than a few years ago, the foreign fund adequacy is still vulnerable "to any significant increase in imports".

Interestingly, Moody's also mentioned domestic politics, along with geopolitical risks, as "constraints on rating".

The analysis stated that in the fiscal year ending in June 2016, real GDP growth reached 4.5 per cent, up from 4.1 per cent in both fiscal years 2015 and 2014.

Although Moody's "expects that real GDP growth will rise towards 6 per cent over the next few years," as CPEC-related projects materialise, it expects the economic impact to materialise slower than the government's expectations.