CHINA LENDS $1 BN TO PAK TO BOOST ITS FOREX RESERVES

ISLAMABAD: China has lent Pakistan $1 billion to boost the country’s plummeting foreign currency reserves, two sources in Pakistan’s finance ministry told Reuters, amid growing speculation of another International Monetary Fund bailout.

The latest loan highlights Islamabad’s growing dependence on Chinese loans to buffer its foreign currency reserves, which plunged to $9.66 billion last week from $16.4 billion in May 2017.

The lending is the outcome of negotiations for loans worth $1-$2 billion that was first reported by Reuters in late May, the two sources told Reuters.

“Yes, it is with us,” said one finance ministry source, in reference to the Chinese money. The second source added that the “matter stands complete”.

The finance ministry spokesperson did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

With the latest loan, China’s lending to Pakistan in this fiscal year ending in June is set to breach $5 billion.

In the first 10 months of the fiscal year China lent Pakistan $1.5 billion in bilateral loans, according to a finance ministry document seen by Reuters.

During this period Pakistan also received $2.9 billion in commercial bank loans mostly from Chinese banks, ministry officials said.

Beijing’s attempts to prop up Pakistan’s economy follow a strengthening of ties in the wake of China’s pledge to fund power and road infrastructure as part of the $57 billion China-pakistan Economic Corridor, an important cog in Beijing’s vast Belt and Road initiative. REUTERS