Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has announced that the Board of China Development Bank has approved a credit facility of $700 million for Pakistan, and all formalities have been completed.
This announcement was made through a tweet, and the loan is expected to be received by the State Bank of Pakistan this week, which will help to boost the country’s forex reserves.
According to Reuters, the credit facility, provided by the state-owned China Development Bank, will increase Pakistan’s forex reserves by about 20 per cent. This comes at a time when the country is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to unlock funds from a $6.5 billion bailout. The loan is in addition to other facilities that China has already extended to Pakistan, and a finance ministry official has stated that the money could arrive as early as Thursday.
China Development Bank did not respond to a faxed request for comment. Currently, China is Pakistan’s largest creditor, and its commercial banks hold approximately 30 per cent of the country’s external debt.
