ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s all-weather and time-tested friend China hasguaranteed financial backing to Islamabad as Imran Khan-led new governmentlooks to avoid having to go to the IMF to solve its foreign exchangecrisis, reported *Financial Times*link.
Senior members of Mr Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party have told theFinancial Times they have been assured they will get further loans fromBeijing over the coming months as one way to keep their currency stockstopped up.
Chinese state-backed banks have lent Pakistan more than $5bn in the pastfinancial year as Islamabad has become increasingly reliant on its northernneighbour to secure its finances.
One prospective cabinet minister told the FT: “China has promised tocontinue helping Pakistan overcome the crunch on foreign payments.” Anothersenior party leader said: “The Chinese have signalled their intent to keephelping Pakistan avoid a crisis, a default.” But he added that Chineseofficials have urged their Pakistani counterparts “to take steps to reducethe large deficit”.
One finance ministry official told the FT: “Clearly, we mustn’t put all oureggs in the IMF basket. At least for the sake of argument, our future plansshould also include a back-up which is built on Chinese money.”