ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s markets totted up the highest single-day gain Monday following an International Monetary Fund (IMF) accord on a bailout for the cash-strapped nation, with the benchmark KSE (Karachi Stock Exchange) 100 index vaulting 2,400 points.
PM Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the nation and business community on the rally, seeing in it signs of recovery because of the government’s “hard work and sound policies”, and of investor confidence restored after the standby IMF agreement on Friday.
The deal -- subject to approval by the IMF board later this month -- came after an eight-month delay and offered respite to Pakistan amid falling forex reserves that had pushed Pakistan to the brink of foreign debt default.
The agreed IMF funding, to be spread over nine months, was higher than expected. Islamabad was awaiting the release of a $1.2 billion from a larger $6.7-billion bailout package agreed in 2019. That programme expired last week.
Back in Karachi, the bellwether KSE resumed on a high note as the markets opened after the Eid holidays, surging a record 2,231.1 points to 43,683.78 points. The over 5% leap forced an hour’s suspension of trading -- a precautionary measure to contain volatility. It zoomed 2471.03 points to the day’s high of 43,923.7 points in pre-noon trade before winding down to settle at 43,899 points, up 5.9% over its previous finish.