In a remarkable rally, PSX breaks record

Stocks rallied to take the benchmark 100-index to cross 71,000 points.

The development comes a day after Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister landed in Pakistan with multiple investment deals likely to be discussed.

The market has been rising since Pakistan reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to unlock the final installment of the stand-by agreement.

Pakistan and the IMF reached a staff level agreement on the second and last review of a nine-month, $3 billion Stand By Arrangement, which, if cleared by the global lender’s board, will release about $1.1 billion to the struggling South Asian nation.

Both sides have also spoken about negotiating a longer-term bailout and continuing with necessary policy reforms to rein in deficits, build reserves and manage soaring debt servicing.

Pakistan’s new government, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has also resolved to follow through with a long delayed privatisation process of loss-making state-owned enterprises that have drained critical funds from the cash-strapped government.