In a letter to his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar also asked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to roll over $2 billion in loans for Pakistan.
The prime minister has asked Beijing to extend Pakistan’s $2 billion loan for a year in a letter to China’s premier, sources said Geo News on Friday.
The sources state that the Chinese government is anticipated to extend the aforementioned loan amount for a full year shortly.
The loan’s deposit period is scheduled to end on March 23, 2024.
The sources also said that Chinese authorities and representatives from Pakistan’s finance ministry are in communication on the issue.
According to sources in the finance ministry, PM Kakar thanked his government for financial support in a letter to the Chinese premier.
Citing the letter, the sources said that “China gave a loan to the government of Pakistan in a difficult economic situation.”
The sources claim that loans totaling $4 billion have been placed in safe deposit, relieving Pakistan of some of its external payment obligations.
In May of last year, when the Chinese government was rolling over more than $2 billion in debt, Beijing helped Pakistan in its fight to obtain the crucial IMF loan that was still outstanding.
The cordial neighbor had promised to provide extra funding to Islamabad as soon as Pakistan was scheduled to make the $2.3 billion debt repayments, helping the country meet two critical debt repayment deadlines in June.
In May 2023, a senior government source informed The News that “the refinancing of the commercial loans worth $1.3 billion and a Chinese government loan of $1 billion would help Pakistan avert immediate default.”
China had previously rolled over a few loans to Pakistan earlier in 2023, and on a visit to the nation in May of last year, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang reaffirmed Beijing’s financial backing for Pakistan.
