Bilawal Bhutto claims Beijing offers’soft loans’ and disputes the idea that Pakistan is caught in China’s debt trap
A day after the IMF gave cash-strapped Pakistan its long-awaited bailout, foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari denied suggestions that his nation is in danger of sliding into China’s debt trap.
During an interview with the Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asia, he made these comments. During a visit to Japan, he said in a written statement that it was false to say that Pakistan was caught in China’s debt trap.
Bhutto Zardari stressed in the Nikkei interview that China provides the majority of Pakistan’s help in the form of investments or lenient loans, allaying worries about an impending debt default despite the continued economic crisis.
He said that the majority of Chinese help to Pakistan took the form of investments or lenient loans.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has decided to provide Pakistan USD 3 billion in much-needed assistance to support the faltering economy of the poor nation.
After the international lender postponed the final, key payment of the prior bailout, negotiations between Pakistan and the IMF came to a standstill in December. The bailout criteria, according to the fund, had not been satisfactorily complied with by Islamabad, which caused a rift between the two parties.
Bhutto Zardari said that there is no immediate risk of default despite the fact that Pakistan’s economy has been impacted by causes including last year’s floods and increased food and oil costs as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.
He demanded that commerce with Pakistan be boosted and that other nations hire more people from Pakistan.
Bhutto Zardari also brought up the fact that his nation buys its electricity from Russian firms and voiced worry about how the conflict in Ukraine may affect Pakistan’s food and energy costs.
The foreign minister of Pakistan also discussed ties with its neighbor India, bringing up Islamabad’s decision to abstain from a G-20 tourism summit that was held in Kashmir.
