ISLAMABAD
\nPakistan Wednesday signed a RMB 15 billion ($2.3 billion) loan facility agreement with a Chinese consortium of banks which is expected to aid the depleting foreign exchange reserves and depreciation of local currency.
\nFinance Minister Miftah Ismail announced the development on his Twitter handle, revealing that the inflows are expected within a couple of days. \u201cWe thank the Chinese government for facilitating this transaction,\u201d he said.
\nPakistan is likely to receive the loan in couple of days. Pakistan is currently facing a huge problem of depleting foreign reserves with US dollar thrashing Pakistani rupee continuously as it touched historic high of Rs212 on Wednesday.
\nMiftah Ismail said that a consortium of Chinese banks had signed the loan facility on Wednesday after Pakistan signed the document on Tuesday. The \u201cinflow is expected within a couple of days. We thank the Chinese government for facilitating this transaction,\u201d the finance minister said.
\nThe announcement comes hours after a major breakthrough was reported in talks between the IMF and Pakistan government over the budgetary proposals.
\nThe report created a positive sentiment in stock and money markets but it could not lost longer. The rupee closed lower in the intraday trading after making gains in the first session. The stock market too closed in the red.
\nChina had deposited 15 billion Renminbi (RMB)(around US$102.2 billion) with the State Bank of Pakistan in March 2019 to bolster the country\u2019s forex reserves. The Beijing government was expected to provide a rollover when the loan matured this year, but a rollover could not materialize and the Chinese banks withdrew the money from Pakistan.
\nAfter holding negotiations with Pakistani officials at several levels, the Chinese agreed to refinance the loan earlier this month, Miftah Ismail announced on June 2. However, the finance minister later admitted that the Chinese and other friends of Pakistan were not ready to transfer funds until Islamabad reached a deal with the IMF.
\nOn the other hand, Pakistan and International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached a deal for the release of a US$1 billion tranche after the latter gave its nod to the budgetary adjustments for fiscal year 2022-23.
\nAccording to officials of the finance ministry, the Fund has agreed to the budgetary estimates set for the next fiscal year and the economic policies of the country. \u201cThe IMF will soon release a handout confirming the staff level agreement between the two sides,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Pakistan Wednesday signed a RMB 15 billion ($2.3 billion) loan facility agreement with a Chinese consortium of banks which is expected to aid the depleting foreign exchange reserves and depreciation of local currency. Finance Minister Miftah Ismail announced the development on his Twitter handle, revealing that the inflows are expected within a couple of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259116,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[18,8831,2416,20],"class_list":{"0":"post-267515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-china","9":"tag-loan-agreement","10":"tag-miftah-ismail","11":"tag-pakistan"},"yoast_head":"\n