Pakistan unlikely to receive additional debt relief from G20 nations

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has not been included in the list of countries to receive any additional financial debt relief benefit from G20 nations.

Planning Minister Asad Umar admitted the news while addressing his first post-budget news conference. “Pakistan would also have to pay interest for a one-and-a-half-year period when it will not be servicing its debt.”

The minister also said that the government will introduce new legislation to give legal cover to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority after the ad-hoc legislation lapsed a few days ago.

Umar sought provincial contributions to end deprivation of the people living in erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), now merged with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

Pakistan owes $20.7 billion to 11 members of the G-20 rich nations. Of this sum, an amount of $1.8 billion would mature by December this year, including the interest payments.

Earlier on 15th April, the G-20 nations announced a freeze on debt repayments from 76 countries, including Pakistan, from 10th May to December 2020 as a relief so that the selected countries could spend on COVID-19 related remission measures.

However, one of the eligibility criteria was that the beneficiary country would not contract new non-concessional debt during the suspension period. In these eight months, Pakistan will have to make $1.8 billion repayments to its 11 members. This includes $1.47 billion in principal loan repayments and $323 million interest on loans.