China Aids Pakistan With Another 1.3 Billion USD: An Epitome Of Great Friendship?

The Finance Minister of Pakistan, Ishaq Dar has announced recently that the nation will receive additional assistance from China for 1.3 billion USD. the assistance has been offered to help sustain the rapidly decreasing forex reserves of Pakistan.

The news has been brought into account after days when Beijing helped the financially weakened nation by providing assistance of 700 million USD. Ishaq Dar shared that the help would be provided by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China during an interview held about the matter.

He stated in the session that both nations have completed the formalities. Pakistan has returned the 1.3 billion USD in the last months. They have returned the valuation back and have renewed the facility. He has revealed that the transaction would be completed by Monday or Tuesday. The finance minister will hand 500 million USD initially to the government and the rest of the funds would be delivered ten days later.

Previously, China helped Pakistan to overcome its struggling economy by providing 700 million USD before the latter has been in discussions with the IMF to seek financial aid.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has acknowledged the help provided by the neighboring countries. Dar has even assured that the latter would be able to pay back the loans and would not default.

The Finance Minister has addressed the depleting forex reserves. He stated that the State Bank of Pakistan held 3.82 billion USD, and when the funds were combined with the valuations held by the commercial banks, the total national reserves accounted for 9.26 billion USD.

Ishaq Dar has added that the national revenues would increase further with the help of China. China has proved to be the epitome of a great friendship.

He has been held accountable for the floods leading to the economic crises in Pakistan. The floods in the last year resulted in financial losses accumulated to 30 billion USD.

He has mentioned that Pakistan has met all the conditions needed to meet the financial assistance from the IMF. They may receive the 1.1 billion USD installment. But, their negotiations did not lead to a successful result because they failed to secure a loan from the latter.

Ishaq dar has further defended his present decision stating that putting the economic condition over the political interests was necessary to cope with the struggling economy. He has accused the opposition leader Imran Khan calling him out as selfish and condemned his government rather than working together to deal with the nation’s issues.

He has blamed mismanagement and bad governance to be the integral factors that led to the collapse of the economy.

The fall of Pakistan will continue, what more is to come?

At present, Pakistan is in a meltdown mode, with the Shehbaz Sharif government having to cope with multiple crises at the same time. The country is already dealing with a loathsome economic crisis. It has been followed by the vulgar fight for power when Imran Khan has removed from the power the prime minister.

Shehbaz Sharif has been trying his best to deal with the crises where the former government led by Imran Khan is showing stones and condemning the actions of the people in power by leading protest marches.
The nation is suffering, people have no food on their plates. But, the political parties have continued to blame and point fingers at each other for the nation’s distress. Rising inflation and continuous power cuts have made the lives of the people despicable.

IMF’s funding has not led to action. People have blamed the finance minister for his incompetence.
For the purpose of sustaining the nation’s economy in 2019, the IMF offered an extended fund facility. Floods, however, along with other circumstantial factors, have brought Pakistan to the verge of collapse.

Therefore, the IMF has stated that it will stop funding Pakistan if it does not implement reforms in the following areas: raising energy prices, imposing more taxes, and ending control over rates of exchange, which has not been politically accepted in the nation.

According to reliable sources, Pakistan’s forex reserves have risen to a record high of 4.56 billion USD, enough to pay for imports for three weeks. A country that depends heavily on imports may suffer because of the situation. The primary cause of the decline in forex reserves was Pakistan’s obligation to repay two UAE banks for commercial loans totaling $1 billion.

Pakistan’s economy is in freefall. Despite the currency’s sharp decline, the government was unable to secure assistance from the IMF because it did not adhere to the condition that fuel prices be raised further.IMF has pushed Pakistan into a worse situation while waiting for the bailout to be approved.

edited and proofread by nikita sharma