Pakistan hoping for USD 1 billion debt relief from G-20
Apr 12, 2021
Islamabad [Pakistan], April 12 : Pakistan is hoping to get around USD one billion relief from G-20, the Pakistan Economic Affairs Ministry said on Saturday.
It will include USD 785 million worth of pause on principal loan repayments and the remaining on account of interest repayments, reported Gulf News.
The debt relief will provide much needed fiscal space to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and meet the urgent economic needs of the country, said Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Khusro Bakhtiar.
The G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors in a joint communique recently announced a final six-month extension through December 2021 in Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to help developing countries deal with the coronavirus pandemic, reported Gulf News.
DSSI is the initiative for a time-bound suspension of loan repayments (of both principal and interest) for countries which request it.
Pakistani officials are looking for debt suspension of about USD 900 million to USD one billion from bilateral creditors under DSSI Phase-III and would submit a formal request for relief after discussion within the relevant ministries.
Pakistan along with other developing countries had qualified for the G-20 debt relief initiative, announced in April last year to combat the adverse impacts of the pandemic, reported Gulf News.
The global debt payments suspension initiative has provided temporary relief of around USD 3.5 billion to Pakistan, according to local media reports.
On March 30, Pakistan received nearly USD 500 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the USD six billion IMF loan programme resumed, reported Gulf News.
