They will get a further boost after the IMF released $1.1 billion after the completion of the talks.
Islamabad:
Pakistan on Friday received a much-needed cash injection of USD 700 million from all-weather ally China to help its ailing economy ahead of finalizing talks with the IMF for financial assistance.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who announced earlier this week that Pakistan was expecting help from China, confirmed on social media that the money had been transferred.
State Bank of Pakistan received $700 million in funding from China Development Bank today, Dar tweeted.
This prompted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to express his gratitude to Pakistan’s “special friend”.
“Pakistan has an ally country, we all were thinking that they were waiting for the IMF agreement and then they will play their part but that ally country told us a few days back that ‘we are giving you [this financial help] straight’, and these things can never be forgotten,” he said while addressing a security meeting.
He added that the assistance was provided even before finalizing negotiations with the IMF to restart the lifeline needed to avert default and that talks with the Fund would be successful soon.
Pakistan and the IMF are holding virtual talks after 10 days of intense talks between the two sides with the IMF delegation in Islamabad from January 31 to February 9, which failed to reach an agreement.
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, which fell to a critical low of USD 2.9 billion a few weeks ago, have now risen to close to USD 4 billion.
They will get a further boost when USD 1.1 billion is released by the IMF following the successful conclusion of the talks.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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