China approves $1.3 billion rollover to Pakistan: Finance Minister Dar
On Friday, Pakistan’s finance minister, Ishaq Dar, announced that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited had granted a $1.3 billion loan rollover to bolster Pakistan’s dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
According to a tweet from Dar, the loan will be paid back in three instalments, with the first instalment of $500 million already being received by Pakistan’s central bank.
He added that the loan would be disbursed in three instalments. The first one has already been received.
China also gave Pakistan a $700 million loan to help increase its foreign exchange reserves. The $2 billion loan serves as Pakistan’s debt repayment to Beijing for an earlier agreed-upon loan, according to Dar.
According to many reports from government officials, the country’s inflation hit a high record in February when the consumer price index hit 31.5% despite the nation’s escalating economic crisis.
The finance minister added that Pakistan would need $5 billion in external financing to close its financing gap this fiscal year, ending in June.
Islamabad is expected to receive more external financing from International Monetary Fund (IMF) by next week, said the finance minister.
This will be possible only after its board approves it; the funding agency will issue over $1 billion tranche of the $6.5 billion bailout, which was agreed to in 2019.
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