Finance Minister Ishaq Dar denied rumors that negotiations were still ongoing on Friday. He said a $2 billion loan from China had been rolled over and the matter is “no longer outstanding.”
In response to a question in Parliament from Senator Raza Rabbani of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), Dar stated, “The $2 billion deposit from China, which was due on 23 March, is no longer waiting.”
The documentation (for this loan) for 2023-24 is also complete.
An official in China’s finance ministry has told the International Reporting Agency that the country is still considering extending Pakistan’s loan, which matured last week.
An anonymous also told that, “It is still a work in progress.” A formal statement will be released and “formal documentation is in progress,” they said.
Dar, though, criticized the findings as “completely hypothetical.”
Currently, the South Asian country’s foreign exchange reserves are only sufficient to cover four weeks’ worth of imports and is in bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
On Thursday, the SBP reported a $354 million loss in its foreign exchange reserves as of March 24. Since the last decline about 1.5 months ago, this was it.
Dar explained that Pakistan has two types of business with China.
SAFE deposits, which are a joint venture between the State Bank of Pakistan and the Central Bank of China, are one of them. In other words, it is a sovereign venture.
Secondly, he explained, there was a transaction with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of China, and China Development Bank.
Pakistan is battling to avoid defaulting on its obligations due to Beijing, its long-standing ally.
