Pakistan expected to get debt relief from 1st May: FM Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has asserted that Pakistan is expected to get debt relief from 1^st May.

In a statement issued today (Thursday) regarding debt relief from G-20 countries and IMF, FM Qureshi said, “Nearly seventy countries including Pakistan would benefit from it.”

The foreign minister also announced, “Pakistan will also get major relief from the International Monetary Fund.” He also said that the relief would be for a period of one year.

FM Qureshi recalled Prime Minister Imran Khan’s call for debt relief and said that PM Imran had appealed to the world leaders and institutions to restructure loans of the developing countries to cope with the coronavirus challenge.

He further said that the relief will enable the developing nations to divert their resources to the protection of people and to make their health systems more effective.

The foreign minister also informed that PM Imran’s call for debt relief was endorsed by UN Secretary-General, IMF and G-20 countries.

Earlier today, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres supported Prime Minister Imran Khan’s call for a global initiative for debt relief to developing countries.

In a virtual news briefing, UN chief’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said, “The prime minister’s initiative is in the same spirit as the secretary-general’s own position.”