Moody’s says timely election result to reduce uncertainty in Pakistan: report

The prompt publication of election results is expected to lessen political uncertainty in Pakistan, according to Moody’s Investor Services (Moody’s).

“A timely announcement of the results, leading to a smooth formation of a new government will reduce policy and political uncertainty,” Bloomberg quoted Grace Lim, Analyst, Moody’s Investors Service in Singapore, as saying on Friday.

“This is crucial for the country that is facing very challenging macroeconomic conditions, with fragile balance of payments, weak growth and high inflation.”

General Elections 2024 were held in Pakistan on Thursday; the polls were largely peaceful, but concerns over the election’s legitimacy lingered because Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), a mainstream political group, was not present and the results were not released until later.

Preliminary and unofficial results show that in a number of NA seats on Friday, independent candidates supported by the PTI led their rivals.

Due to uncertainties surrounding the poll results, Pakistani government bonds denominated in dollars saw a decline of up to 2 cents on Friday.

The South Asian nation is battling growing acts of militant violence in a highly politicized political climate, all the while trying to recover from an economic catastrophe. According to Tradeweb data, the majority of its sovereign dollar bonds declined, with the September 2025 bond falling to 85 cents on the dollar.

The benchmark KSE-100 index, meanwhile, saw a loss of more than 2,000 points before beginning to gain ground on Friday during the trading session following the election.

During the opening minutes of trading, the benchmark index plunged to a low of 61,781.76, a decrease of 2,362.11 points or 3.8%.

By 3:15pm, the KSE-100 regained some losses but was still down 1,045.72 points or 1.63% and was hovering at 63,098.15.