ISLAMABAD – China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) several projects facesetback and have been stalled reportedly because of financial constraints.According to Dawn News, the National Highway Authority in the country isunder financial crisis and hence the work on several projects has beenstalled.

The report said that cheques worth Rs 5 billion had bounced, followingwhich the contractors decided to stop work on the road projects, which arecrucial for the success and completion of the CPEC project.

This is for the first time that they have been hit by financial crunch. Asper Dawn News, the projects stalled are Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan, Westernroute of CPEC and Karachi-Lahore Motorway.

This comes months after China had raised concerns over politicalinstability in Pakistan hitting CPEC projects.

“In the past few years, investors from both China and Pakistan got tooexcited about the CPEC, and they overlooked the problems with the Pakistaneconomy,” Mei Xinyu, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy ofInternational Trade and Cooperation, had told the state-run Global Times inMay.

“Now, they need to carefully assess potential risks in some projects, andPakistan’s ability to repay its debts,” he had said.

The observations by the expert came after Pakistan asked China for freshloans worth $2billion, even as Chinese banks had given $1 billion loan tothe neighbouring country in the month of April.