Pakistan requests China to rollover $6.3 billion debt

Pakistan has already obtained $2.2 billion in loans during the July-September quarter while Saudi Arabia has announced to rollover $3 billion debt maturing in December this year.

Pakistan has requested China to rollover its $6.3 billion debt that is maturing in the next eight months as part of its overall plan to arrange $34 billion in the current fiscal year to meet its debt and external trade-related obligations, according to a media report on Sunday.

Another proposal was also under consideration to seek a fresh Chinese loan to repay the maturing bilateral debt during the fiscal year 2022-23, ending on June 30, the Express Tribune newspaper reported.

The issue of rollover and refinancing of nearly $6.3 billion commercial loans and the central bank debt was discussed in a meeting between Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong and Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Saturday, the paper said.

The $3.3 billion Chinese commercial loans and $3 billion worth of Safe deposits loans were maturing from now till June next year, according to the Ministry of Finance officials.

The Safe deposit is on the balance sheet of the central bank.

In addition to this, over $900 million in bilateral Chinese debt was becoming due during the current fiscal year.

For the current fiscal year, the International Monetary Fund and the Ministry of Finance have estimated Pakistan’s gross external financing requirements in the range of $32 billion to $34 billion, excluding the impact of the recent devastating floods.