KUALA LUMPUR, May 6: Pakistan plans to issue a Eurobond this year and expects investor demand to be high, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Friday. He did not comment on the size or currency of the issue.

“As you know issuers never talk about size. The size will be based on market demand. Market demand is very, very high,” he told Reuters in an interview in Malaysia. The issue follows two others by Pakistan during the last 12 months — a Eurobond and an Islamic bond.

“The previous Eurobond issue, we got subscriptions of two billion dollars and we took $500 million. The rest was returned. So it was a half-a-billion dollar issue.”

Pakistan raised $600 million by selling an Islamic bond in January.

Mr Aziz said the prospects for the Pakistani economy were bright, and he expected GDP growth this year of around 7.5 per cent, though high oil prices and growing demand were fuelling inflation.

“Through active conduct of monetary policy by the central bank we are taking measures where discount rates have been increased to provide an environment where inflationary pressures do not detract from the growth momentum,” he said.

Pakistan expects to complete the sale of a 26 per cent stake in a state-owned telecommunications company within the next two months, Mr Aziz said. —Reuters