ISLAMABAD: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has rescheduled a debt of 2 billion owed to Pakistan for one year, which will make it easier for the government to repay the loan.
According to details, SBP has demanded more loans to stabilize foreign exchange reserves. The country’s reserves have shrunk by 25 percent in the last 14 days, raising fears of an increase in Pakistan’s economic woes.
Pakistan last month asked the UAE for a three-year repayment period, but the UAE government has granted a one-year extension. Pakistan received Rs.2 billion in 2019 for 3 years. This is the second major loan rescheduled in the last 10 days.
Yesterday, Finance Secretary Yaqoob Sheikh said that UAE had rescheduled our debt for one more year while Pakistan had to repay this debt in March. The Imran Khan government requested a $6 billion loan to the UAE in November 2018.
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So far, the IMF loan program has not been completely closed, but in the current setup, the International Monetary Fund is not ready to negotiate with Pakistan. IMF officials said that we will negotiate with the new government and work on macroeconomic stability.
China has also given huge relief to Pakistan in debt repayment, but the SBP says that foreign exchange reserves cannot be said to be stable. It should be noted that last month Pakistan’s negotiations with the IMF were suspended due to the non-implementation of the agreement.
