Pakistan’s benchmark share index rose 1.5% during intraday trade on Monday, to an intraday high of 72,986 points.

The index has surged 73.4% over the past year and is up 12.9% year-to-date.

A Saudi delegation arrived in Pakistan on Sunday for talks on trade and investment opportunities, particularly in the exploration and production sectors.

Adnan Sheikh, assistant vice president at Pak Kuwait Investment Company, said the market was up following news of the delegation’s arrival along with an IMF statement regarding a mission visit.

“The PSX is still very cheap with price to earnings ratio of under 5x compared to average of 8x,” Sheikh added.

Pakistan last month completed a short-term $3 billion programme, which helped stave off sovereign default, but the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need for a new longer term programme.

An International Monetary Fund mission is expected to visit Pakistan this month to discuss a programme, the lender said on Sunday ahead of Islamabad beginning its annual budget-making process for the next financial year.

The IMF did not specify the dates of the visit, nor the size or duration of the programme.

Earlier, in an interview with Reuters, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said the country hoped to agree the outlines of a new IMF loan in May.

Pakistan is expected to seek at least $6 billion and request additional financing from the Fund under the Resilience and Sustainability Trust.