Vikrant Shekhawat : Oct 24, 2022, 10:10 AM
China-Pakistan Ties: Pakistan has requested China to extend the deadline for repaying its debt of $ 6.3 billion. Its deadline is to be completed in the next eight months. This information was revealed in a media report on Sunday. Pakistan actually wants to raise $ 34 billion in the current financial year to meet its debt and external trade-related obligations.The Express Tribune newspaper said that a proposal to take a new loan from China to repay the bilateral debt for 2022-23 is also being considered. It said that in the meeting held on Saturday between China's Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong and Finance Minister Mohammad Isaac Dar, the issue of repayment and refinance of about $ 6.3 billion of commercial debt was discussed.period to endFinance Ministry officials said that from now till June next year, the term of commercial loans of $ 3.3 billion and safe deposit loans of $ 3 billion from China is ending. Apart from this, bilateral debt with China of more than $ 90 million is also going to be outstanding in the current financial year.Safe deposit is on the balance sheet of the central bank. In addition, bilateral sugar loans of more than $900 million are being outstanding during the current financial year. For the current fiscal year, the International Monetary Fund and the Ministry of Finance have estimated Pakistan's gross external financing requirements at between $32 billion and $34 billion, excluding the impact of the recent devastating floods.Saudi Arabia also announced the rolloverPakistan has already secured a loan of $2.2 billion during the July-September quarter, while Saudi Arabia has also announced a rollover of a loan of $3 billion maturing in December this year. The country still needs to arrange $29 billion and is looking for a minimum $6.3 billion to $7.2 billion rollover from China in addition to any new loans.