China’s EXIM bank rolls over $2.4 billion loan, says Ishaq Dar

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar said here on Thursday that Chinese Export Import Bank (EXIM) has rolled over US$ 2.4 billion which were due in next two fiscal years.

In a tweet, the finance minister said that US$1.2 billion were due in fiscal year 2023-24: and US$ 1.2 billion in fiscal year 2024-25. “Chinese EXIM Bank has rolled over for 2 years principal amounts of following loans totalling US$ 2.4 billion which are due in next 2 fiscal years.”

“Pakistan will make interest payments only in both years,” the finance minister said.

Last week, China had agreed to reschedule over $2 billion publicly guaranteed debt to Islamabad for a period of two years, providing a major relief to the government that is in the process of rebuilding foreign exchange reserves through fresh loans and rolling over maturing debt.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved the revised terms of the agreement reached between Islamabad and Beijing, according to media reports citing senior Pakistani officials.

China has time and again helped Pakistan meet its debt obligations through the provision of new loans and the roll over of the existing debt. China prematurely refinanced its $1.3 billion commercial loans in June, which helped Pakistan avoid a default on its international debt obligations during the period when the IMF program was stalled. After the signing of the new IMF deal, Pakistan’s gross official foreign exchange reserves have bounced back to $8.7 billion – up from the critically low level of $4.5 billion before the deal. – News Agencies