Islamabad Cash- trapped Pakistan is looking to secure a USD 3-billion (PKR 529 billion) loan from China and investments in half a dozen sectors during Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Beijing coming week, according to a media report on Sunday Mr Khan will visit the Chinese capital on February 3 to attend the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics and to also meet the top Chinese leadership on the sidelines for bilateral addresses.
The Express Tribune reported quoting government sources that a final meeting to shape the docket of the visit would take place on Tuesday A elderly finance ministry functionary said the government was considering requesting China to authorize another loan to the tune of USD 3 billion in China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange, known as SAFE deposits, so as to boost its foreign exchange reserves.
China has formerly placed around USD 11 billion (PKR1.940 trillion) with Pakistan in the shape of marketable loans and foreign exchange reserves support enterprise, including USD 4 billion (PKR 705 billion) in SAFE deposits The Chinese plutocrat is part of the country’s current sanctioned foreign exchange reserves recorded at USD16.1 billion (PKR2.8 trillion) In the last financial time, the country had paid over PKR 26 billion in interest charges to China only for using a USD4.5 billion (PKR 794 billion) Chinese trade finance installation to repay the growing debt Last month, Pakistan also entered a loan from Saudi Arabia of USD 3 billion (PKR 529 billion), which the country has used.
The Pakistan government aims to secure Chinese investment in six precedence sectors by pressing the competitive advantages that the country-cheap but professed labour, geographic access to Europe and Asia and duty immunity.”We’ll vend cloth, footwear, medicinal, cabinetwork, husbandry, machine and information technology sectors for Chinese investment,” said Chairman of Board of Investment Azfar Ahsan The government is anticipated to tell the 75 Chinese companies that it handed access to trade routes to the Middle East, Africa and the rest of the world- offering lesser impulses in the shape of reduction in freight cost.
“Unlike in the history when we’d only talk about Pak-Sino fellowship being advanced than the Himalayas and sweeter than honey, this time we’re going to prepare for China with a structured approach,”Federal Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar told The Express Tribune He added that with the involvement of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority the government had named those sectors for foreign investment where there was substantiation of huge benefits for Chinese investors.
Pakistani authorities said they believe its labour is two- times cheaper than that of China. This offers a lesser occasion for relocation of the dying Chinese diligence Still, all these areas and the competitive advantages are formerly known to the investors but they remain reticent to bring in” big plutocrat”to Pakistan because of its inconsistent financial and energy programs China has decided to move into a more sophisticated and high-tech- driven cloth and vesture assiduity and engage in further value- added functions under its 2021-25 plan.
