AAJ TV : Pakistan Ki Awaz

HONG KONG/KARACHI : Standard & Poor's raised Pakistan's sovereign rating by one notch to B-minus, citing improvements in its external liquidity and reduction in its fiscal deficit.

The rating outlook is stable.

The decision came a week after Moody's Investors Service raised its rating outlook for Pakistan to stable from negative and after the country received an increase in a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

S&P said the IMF loan agreement and donor commitment had helped reduce the risk of near-term external payment difficulties for Pakistan.

"The upgrade is mainly due to the approval of the loan by the IMF last month. It would help Pakistan with the balance of payments deficit it is facing," said Mohammed Sohail, chief executive at Topline Securities Ltd.

Pakistan agreed in November to an IMF emergency loan package of $7.6 billion to avert a balance of payments crisis and shore up reserves. Last month, the fund increased the loan to $11.3 billion, and also released a third tranche of $1.2 billion.

Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves were $12.96 billion in the week that ended on Aug. 15 compared with $6.6 billion n November of last year.

S&P said the upgrade also reflected Pakistan's "successes in implementing corrective policy measures to rectify an unsustainable fiscal trajectory that evolved amid the political transition and associated instability of the recent past."

Karachi stock market was up 1.71 percent at 8254.89 points, a high for the year, as investors were encouraged by the rating increase.

"The market has taken this news positively on hopes that there will be an increase foreign activity with an improvement in Pakistan's rating," said Sajid Bhanji, a dealer at brokers Arif Habib Ltd.

Banks were closed for a holiday on Monday.

Copyright Reuters, 2009