Pakistan has won an international award for its CNY1.75 billion Sustainable Panda Bond, worth approximately $258 million. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said the country intends to return to China’s capital market with further debt issues.
The country received the Pioneer Sustainable Sovereign Panda Bond Issuer Award at the 2026 APAC Climate Bonds Awards.
The recognition follows Pakistan’s first renminbi-denominated bond issuance in May. Its proceeds will support environmentally friendly and socially important projects in water, energy and health.
Investor demand exceeds five times the offering
Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad outlined the transaction’s terms in a social media post on Wednesday.
“The 3-year bond at 2.5% attracted 5x+ demand”, he wrote, describing the result as “opening a new pool of global capital, diversifying sovereign financing and strengthening Pakistan-China financial ties”.
He said the issuance expanded Pakistan’s access to institutional investors and diversified its external financing sources.
“This landmark transaction was completed with the collaboration of the Government of Pakistan, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Chinese authorities, financial advisors, underwriters, and other market partners,” he said.
The adviser linked the award to Pakistan’s efforts to broaden its funding options.
“This global recognition is yet another important acknowledgement of Pakistan’s growing access to international capital markets, expanding investor base, new sources of financial resources, and ability to raise capital for sustainable development,” he said.
Aurangzeb signals further Chinese-market issues
In a video message, Aurangzeb thanked the Climate Bonds Initiative, China’s government, AIIB, ADB, investors, advisers, underwriters and other partners.
“It’s the first time that Pakistan tapped the second largest, second deepest capital market in the world. From our perspective, it opens a new and deep pool of capital and strengthens the financial dimension of the long-standing strategic relationship between China and Pakistan,” he said.
He described the market response as “amazing”. He said it represented confidence in “Pakistan’s improving economic fundamentals”.
“We are not going to be a one-time issuer in China. We are going to go back into the Chinese capital market and print further issues as we go forward.”
The minister said the award went beyond recognising a single transaction.
“It marks Pakistan’s growing access to new pools of global capital, deeper international partnerships and continued progress towards diversified, market-based and sustainable financing.”
Funding for sustainable infrastructure
ADB confirmed that Pakistan issued the bond on May 15, 2026, for its Sustainable and Green Infrastructure Project.
The bank identified water governance, energy reliability and efficiency, and healthcare capacity as priorities for the proceeds.
ADB also highlighted the transaction’s guarantee structure. It said the bond became the first with less than 100 per cent guarantee coverage to secure a domestic AAA rating. That rating applies to the bond in China’s market.
The structure illustrates how partial credit guarantees can help emerging-market borrowers attract private capital.
