China has gone through a loan of $ 2 billion to Pakistan, said Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad Reuters In a text message on Saturday.
The Government is working to strengthen its finances after ensuring an International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue of $ 7 billion in September 2024. The first share of the loan is currently under review, and if it is successful, the country will receive additional $ 1 billion.
Ensuring external financing has previously been a key condition for the IMF to approve rescue agreements for the Nation with liquidity problems.
The Government needs to pay more than $ 22 billion in external debt in fiscal year 2025, including almost $ 13 billion in bilateral deposits, the global Crediting Fitch rating agency said last month.
According to the World Bank International Debt Report published in December, China has become the largest creditor of Pakistan with almost $ 29 billion in loans.
The World Bank put the total external debt of Pakistan (including the IMF) at $ 130.85 billion in 2023, representing 352 percent of its total exports and 39 percent of gross national income (GNI). The total external debt service of Pakistan amounted to 43pc of total exports and 5 percent GNI.
According to the report, China had most of the debt with Pakistan with a 22PC action (around $ 28,786 billion), followed by the 18PC Action of the World Bank ($ 23.55 billion) and the 15PC Action of Asian Development Bank ($ 19.63 billion).
Saudi Arabia stood out as the second largest bilateral lender for Pakistan with 7 pieces of total debt or around $ 9,16 billion.
