Cashꦜ-strapped Pakistan has received USD 1 billion from its close ally China to support its criꦜtically low foreign reserves amidst the uncertainty to revive a stalled International Monetary Fund loan.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) 🤡on Friday night confirmed having received the amount from China without sharing 𝔍any other details about it.
Cashꦜ-strapped Pakistan has received USD 1 billion from its close ally China to support its criꦜtically low foreign reserves amidst the uncertainty to revive a stalled International Monetary Fund loan.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday night confirmed having received the amount from China without sharing🌸 any other details about it.
It wou⭕ld add to the reserves which had fallen✨ to almost USD 3.9 billion in recent weeks.
Earlier🗹, finance min🧔ister Ishaq Dar said Pakistan had paid back USD 1 billion to China last Monday against a due amount .
USD 1.3 billion and it was hoped that the amo🃏unt would be returned.
Pakistan’s economy is tethering on the verge of default as the IMF is push✅ing the county to its limits to fulfil demands - which Islamabad insists had been already met - to provide the remaining USD 2.5 billion out of a bailout package of USD 6.5 billion agreed in 2019.
The entire amount is unlikely to be paid as the programme is ending on June 30 but Pakistan is pushing for a tranche o🅠f USD 1.1 billion as a symbolic gesture of en🔜dorsement of its policies by the Washington-based fund.
The country i♒s not getting multilatera🤡l loans or even bilateral assistance without the support of the IMF. Only China has stood fast to help Pakistan while Saudi Arabia and the UAE have also been selectively supportive.
Dar earlier lashed out at the IMF and alleged that geopolitics was behind its loan package as global institutions wanted Pakistan to default like Sri Lanka and then enter🅘 negotiations.
Pakistan feverishly exploring an option to keep its economy afloat in the absence of IMF support. The policy option announced by Dar shows that Pakistan will pay multilateral loans on time while discussing the rollover of bilat🎶eral loans with individual countries.
It is hoped tha𓆉t China will🌳 roll over USD 4 billion of bilateral loans as the country looked forward to rolling over about USD 9 billion loans with different nations in the next fiscal year beginning July 1.
Pakistan is also looking at refinancing a loan of USD 300 million from the China Development Bank which matu𒈔res on June 30.