ISLAMABAD – Minster for Planning Asad Umar says economic growth willimprove with the paying of loans.
Talking to media in Karachi on Saturday, he said assertion of US ActingAssistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wellsregarding CPEC related loans is not based on facts.
The Minister said it is true that foreign debt of the country has reachedto a level that is impeding the growth of economy. He said the loans weretaken in the past as imports exceeded exports of the country and tradedeficit was increasing.
He said total public debt of the country stands at 74 billion dollars. Ofthis, the debt from China is 18 billion dollars, less than one fourth. Hesaid CPEC related debt out of 18 billion dollars is 4.9 billion dollars. Hesaid CPEC loan is 7 percent of the total external debt.
Asad Umar said three fourth of the debt is from other countries ormultilateral institutions. He said Chinese institutions funded Pakistan ata difficult economic time due to deep friendship bonds between the twocountries.
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The Minister expressed satisfaction that commercial bilateral debt withChina will start reducing at a faster pace in the coming years and will bereplaced by multilateral debt.
Asad Umar said the public debt taken from China has a maturity of 20 yearswith average interest rate of 2.34 percent. He said the first phase ofCPEC focused on road infrastructure and energy related projects.
