‘Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V’: Pakistan govt gets trolled for posting draft release on junk bond sale

As Pakistan's economy continues to struggle, it reportedly raised a record $3 billion from a junk bond sale after securing credit rating upgrades. And when Pakistan's finance ministry shared this important update on social media, it turned out to be a field day for trolls because it had shared draft releases.

The first and the opening line of the release read: “Not for release, publication or distribution in, or, into, the United States, Australia, Canada or Japan."

While many people commented on the post making remarks about Pakistan's faulty economy, some were quick to point out that the post had been published with embargo instructions intact.

“What's wrong with the Pakistan government?” an X user posted, sharing a screenshot of the draft released X post.

“Not for release? you posted the draft again?” an X user, with username Opposingwind, wrote.

“Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V,” another person with X username Mayank Raj wrote, indicating how the post was a classic case of copy-paste job gone wrong.

A similar slip-up had happened in April this year when Pakistan was mediating a truce between Iran and the United States. Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif shared an update on the progress of the mediation efforts but a line that read “Draft - Pak's PM Message on X” appeared on the top, which was later deleted.

Pakistan sold $1.75 billion of five-year debt at a yield of 7.75% and also sold $1.25 billion of 10-year notes at a yield of 8.25%, Bloomberg reported quoting anonymous official sources.

“Pakistan is pursuing a broader strategy of active sovereign liability management — diversifying financing sources, extending maturities, reducing refinancing and rollover risks, and creating opportunities to replace shorter-term and more expensive obligations with longer-duration, competitively priced financing, where economically beneficial,” the finance ministry said in its statement posted on X.

The sale attracted orders of almost $6 billion, the finance ministry said in a statement Thursday. Pakistan came back to the market after tapping global investors in April for the first time in more than four years in a $500 million private placement. The South Asian nation, which secured an International Monetary fund bailout in 2022 to avert a default, has been taking steps to shore up its finances and rebuild its foreign-exchange reserves.

“This shows that Pakistan has regained investors’ confidence and reflects the strong reform progress made under the IMF program,“ said Eng Tat Low, emerging-market sovereign analyst at Columbia Threadneedle Investments in Singapore. “Raising this amount early in the fiscal year should also alleviate concerns around its ability to meet its elevated external funding” needs, estimated at about $22 billion, he was quoted as saying.

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