IMF warns Pakistan against long term adverse impacts of CPEC
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ISLAMABAD: International Monetary Fund has warned Pakistan against the long term implications of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
Chinese investments in Pakistan can potentially lift the country’s economy, but the repayment obligations that come with this investment will be serious, the IMF warned in its latest and final review of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
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“During the investment phase, as the ‘early harvest’ projects proceed, Pakistan will experience a surge in FDI and other external funding inflows,” says the International Monetary Fund in a short evaluation of the impact of CPEC related investments on Pakistan.
However, the import requirements of these projects “will likely offset a significant share of these inflows, such that the current account deficit would widen” within manageable levels during these years.
The report estimates CPEC related imports could reach 11 percent of total projected imports by 2020, equal to just over $5.7 billion, while inflows under the corridor will touch 2.2 percent of projected GDP in that year. Gross external financing needs of the country will jump almost 60 percent by then, from a projected $11 billion for the current fiscal year, to $17.5 billion in 2020.
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Pakistan will see $27.8 billion in “early harvest” projects under CPEC in the next few years, with the remaining $16 billion coming over a longer timeline stretching out to 2030.
“Pakistan will need to manage increasing CPEC-related outflows,” warns the Fund, once the Chinese investors begin repatriating profits, adding that the amounts involved “could add up to a significant level given the magnitude of the FDI”.
Outflows will also come in the form of repayment obligations on the loans taken from Chinese banks for these projects, which are expected to rise after 2021. Both of these, repayments and profit repatriation, “could reach about 0.4 percent of GDP per year over the longer run”.
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Pakistan has to plan for future right now if it wants to offset the long term adverse implications of the CPEC project, warns IMF.
