Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: China has rolled over a deposit of $700 million with Pakistan’s central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), on the existing terms as the country’s foreign exchange reserves escaped further decline, a local news channel reported, citing sources.
The development was revealed during a virtual meeting between officials of the Finance Ministry and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), ARY News reported.
The news channel reported that Pakistan had apprised the lending agency of the debt rollover from China’s bank.
During the meeting, the IMF demanded implementation of a recovery plan for gas and electricity defaulters. The monetary body has demanded an immediate improvement in power losses.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar met Charge’d Affairs of China, Ms. Pang Chunxue.
The two sides discussed the progress on CPEC projects and agreed to accelerate and enhance cooperation. The statement added they discussed further deepening these ties in economic and financial sectors.
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On the occasion, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar highlighted the long-standing and deep-rooted brotherly relations between Pakistan and China and shared that both countries have strong bilateral relations in several economic avenues.
Earlier in February, the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves witnessed an increase of $276 million to $3.193 billion after a declining trend.
Pakistan, IMF talks for loan
According to a statement by SBP, the foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank were recorded at $3,192.9 million as of February 10, up $276 million as compared to $2,916.7 on February 3.
Meanwhile, the net foreign reserves held by the country’s commercial banks stood at $5.5 billion, taking the country’s total liquid foreign reserves to $8.7 billion. However, SBP did not mention any specific reason behind the increase in the reserves.
Pakistan was eyeing an agreement with the IMF that would not only lead to a disbursement of $1.2bn but also unlock inflows from friendly countries.
Pakistan and IMF moved closer to reviving the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) as the lender responded to the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) draft.
