ISLAMABAD, June 11: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s (SECP) reform agenda has played a key role in strengthening Pakistan’s capital markets and corporate sector, with the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) emerging among the world’s best-performing stock markets during the first nine months of FY2025-26, according to the Economic Survey 2025-26.
The Survey states that the KSE-100 Index surged by 18.4 percent during July-March FY2025-26, rising from 125,627 points to 148,743 points, while market capitalization increased to Rs16.5 trillion. Average daily trading volume jumped to 1.2 billion shares from 834 million shares a year earlier, reflecting growing investor confidence amid improving macroeconomic indicators and regulatory reforms introduced by the SECP.
Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 Index outperformed most major global stock market indices during the period, supported by easing inflation, successful IMF programme reviews, stronger external sector indicators and continued inflows from bilateral and multilateral partners.
The report highlights that SECP reforms, including the transition to a T+1 settlement cycle, public offering reforms, investor facilitation measures, digital onboarding platforms, enhanced corporate disclosures and market development initiatives, contributed to deepening the capital market, improving transparency and strengthening investor confidence.
The corporate sector also recorded robust growth, with 31,986 new companies incorporated during July-March FY2025-26, taking the total number of registered companies in the country to 294,101. The newly incorporated companies had a combined paid-up capital of Rs67 billion, with information technology, trading and services sectors leading new registrations.
The Survey notes that SECP introduced several initiatives to improve ease of doing business, including full digitization of share ownership for unlisted companies, fast-track bank account opening, inter-agency system integration and reforms to the corporate restructuring framework.
In the debt market, six debt securities worth Rs12.45 billion were issued during the period, while the government raised Rs5.1 trillion through the PSX-based debt auction platform since its launch in December 2023. Outstanding debt securities stood at Rs133.6 billion by March 2026.
The non-banking financial sector continued expanding, with mutual funds’ assets under management reaching Rs4.54 trillion and the overall mutual fund industry growing to Rs5.64 trillion. Voluntary pension fund assets rose to Rs138 billion, while REIT schemes increased to 29 with a combined fund size of Rs173 billion.
Islamic finance also maintained strong momentum. During July-March FY2025-26, SECP issued Shariah compliance certificates for 53 corporate Sukuk issues worth Rs229.6 billion, while sovereign Sukuk issuances reached Rs1.86 trillion. Shariah compliant securities accounted for 64 percent of total PSX market capitalization.
The Economic Survey states that sustained macroeconomic stability, continued reforms and enhanced investor protection measures will remain critical for broadening Pakistan’s capital markets, expanding the investor base and promoting greater participation by businesses and institutional investors.
