A SUPPLEMENT TO EUROMONEY/AUGUST 1997Pakistan's secretary of finance, Choudri Mueen Afzal, and his minister of finance, Sarjad Aziz, share an appetite for hard work. Oxford-educated Afzal says he puts in a six-day week, rarely getting home before eight in the evening, but agrees that Aziz, the author of the recent budget, is more industrious still. "He works harder than any other finance minister I know of," says Afzal. There is no shortage of things to do if the key goals of Pakistan's economic policy are to be achieved. These are to reduce government expenditure and waste, push forward with privatization, and persuade multilateral lenders that Pakistan can be trusted with their money. Afzal has committed much time and energy developing the country's profile in the international capital markets. The country first entered the markets in December 1994 with a five-year floating-rate note to raise $150 million, lead-managed by Bear Stearns. Two years later, in June 1996, Pakistan issued a three-year floating-rate note for $150 million. This time, Citibank acted as lead-manager. Afzal has demonstrated his intention of making Pakistan a more frequent player by going to the markets twice since February. |