Finance minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday that China had rolled over a $2 billion loan that matured last week, providing relief during the nation\u2019s acute balance of payment crisis.
\nLocking in a rollover had been critical for Pakistan, where reserves have dipped to just four weeks\u2019 worth of imports and talks over an IMF bailout tranche of $1.1 billion have hit a stalemate.
\n\u201cI am happy to confirm that this had been rolled over on March 23,\u201d Dar told the Senate, referring to the maturity date. He said all concerned documentation had been completed.
\nNeither the government in Beijing nor the Chinese central bank responded to requests for comment on the rollover.
\nDar\u2019s comments were the first official announcement of the rollover after the loan matured. Dar did not give the new maturity date or other terms of the arrangement.
\nA top finance ministry official told Reuters on Wednesday that a formal confirmation of the refinancing would be made after the process was completed.
\nIslamabad has been negotiating with the IMF since early February for the release of $1.1 billion from a $6.5 billion bailout package agreed in 2019. One of the IMF\u2019s conditions for the release of the tranche is assurance of external financing to fund Pakistan\u2019s balance of payments.
\nLongtime ally Beijing is the only help Islamabad has got so far, with refinancing of $1.8 billion credited last month to Pakistan\u2019s central bank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Finance minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday that China had rolled over a $2 billion loan that matured last week, providing relief during the nation\u2019s acute balance of payment crisis. Locking in a rollover had been critical for Pakistan, where reserves have dipped to just four weeks\u2019 worth of imports and talks over an IMF […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1925],"class_list":{"0":"post-323001","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-ishaq-dar"},"yoast_head":"\n