PTI government pay back $16.4 billion foreign loans
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ISLAMABAD: Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar on Friday informed the Senate the government has paid US $16.4 billion towards external debt and Rs19.9 trillion towards domestic debt during the last two years.
Responding to various supplementary questions during Question Hour, the minister said record debt servicing was done during the last two years. The government was retiring US $10 billion debt annually, he added.
To another question, he said that the country’s foreign exchange reserves have increased to US $20 billion despite record debt servicing.
He said State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has foreign exchange reserves of $ 12-13 billion. The reserves have increased due to improvement in exports and remittances, he added.
The minister said the current account has shown a surplus of $1.6 billion during the first five months of current financial year against a deficit of US $ 1.7 billion in the corresponding period of last year.
To a separate question, he said no cut on the NFC share of provinces has been imposed by the federal government. It was not a fact, that the government has imposed cut of Rs154 billion on the share of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in the NFC Award.
Nine SEZs to be built under CPEC: Senate told: Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar on Friday informed the Senate that nine special economic zones (SEZs) would be constructed under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project with an estimated cost of $ 1.5 billion. Responding to various questions during Question Hour, the minister said out of total, construction work on three SEZs has been expedited on fast track.
To another question, the minister said as many as 11 projects worth $ 1.7 billion were specified for Gwadar under the CPEC.
Two projects have already been completed while seven projects worth $ 1.2 billion were in the execution phase, he added.
