The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet is expected to approve the issuance of Eurobonds by the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), in its upcoming meeting, reported Dawn News.
WAPDA has moved a summary through the Ministry of Water Resources to launch $500 million Eurobonds. This is aimed at raising the funds to meet the foreign financing needs of the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams.
Although the total required financing for these two projects nears $2 billion, WAPDA has decided to raise funding in line with the construction needs and in a step-by-step process to avoid financing costs.
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These would be the first bonds issued by the authority without the sovereign guarantee of the government. WAPDA is likely to be allowed to move ahead with the issue based on the positive corporate family ratings by leading international credit agencies, such as the B3 stable rating by Moody’s.
WAPDA has already issued contracts for both dams to two Chinese consortiums. The contract for the Diamer-Basha dam has been issued for Rs. 442 billion, and for Mohamad dam for Rs. 310 billion. The construction for these two dams began in May 2020 and June 2020, respectively.
