ISLAMABAD: Ninety-percent of the funding of $1.8 billion under theChina-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was reserved for three projects onthe eastern route for the just concluded FY18.
Official documents showed other social-sector and infrastructure projectsremained behind completion deadlines, reported *Express Tribune.*
During the beginning of the previous financial year 2017-18, the countryhad projected to receive $1.6 billion in Chinese loans and grants for overone and a half dozen projects.
However, data compiled by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairsrevealed disbursement had surpassed the target but projects that received90 percent of loans amounted to only three.
Analyzing the financial inflows into Chinese-funded projects reveal nosignificant development has occurred on the western route that crossesthrough Pakistan’s remote areas and on Gwadar schemes.
Overall, $1.8 billion loans were fetched for seven infrastructure projectsand four of them were linked to CPEC.
$1.6 billion of loans were disbursed for Orange Line Metro Project inLahore, Thakot-Havelian motorway and Sukkur-Multan motorway.
And the fourth project that received funding of $16.5 million from theChinese was the cross-border optical fibre project in FY18.
As per projections by Pakistan of $333 million for Sukkur-Multan projectsituated on the eastern route received $904 million or 50 percent of theoverall loans fetched in FY18.
Likewise, the Thakot-Havelian segment of the eastern route got $318.2million in loans against official projects of $197 million and the OrangeLine Metro project in Lahore got $359 million.
During FY18, Pakistan received $4.5 billion in loans from China whichincluded $1.8 billion under CPEC, $500 million in deposit from StateAdministration and Foreign Exchange (SAFE) and $2.2 billion in commercialloans.
Neelum-Jhelum hydroelectric power project also was a beneficiary of Chineseassistance of $96.8 million, Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite $8.64million and Chashma Nuclear Power Plants 3 & 4 $65.5 million.
The government had anticipated receiving grants for two Gwadar schemes, thePakistan-China Vocational Institute Gwadar and Gwadar International Airportas per budget documents.
The Chinese didn’t release the grants. Neither a project designed toprovide safe and clean drinking water to Gwadar city receive any Chinesefinancial assistance.