Pakistan is following in the footsteps of Sri Lanka, which has fallen into China’s debt trap. China’s recent request to repay $ 55.6 million to the Lahore Orange Line project by November 2023 has come as a shock to Pakistan. The economic situation is already so bad that Pakistan is stunned.
Meanwhile, at the end of March, the State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves fell to $ 2.915 billion due to the repayment of foreign debt.
Thus, in terms of relations with China, Pakistan faces a dark economic future. China-Railway North Industries Corporation (CR-NORINCO), a Chinese company that completed the Lahore Orange Line project in 2020, has demanded that the Punjab Mass Transit Authority repay $ 45.3 million in arrears by the end of March 2023. It also said it would repay the remaining $ 10.5 million by the end of the year.
Read more | Western nations can not cut off Russia’s oil and gas supply: Vladimir Putin
China has demanded that all arrears be repaid before the CR-NORINCO agreement expires on November 16, 2023. In fiscal 2021-2022, Pakistan paid about $ 150 million in interest to China for trade finance assistance provided by the C $ 4.5 billion. In the 2019-2020 financial year, Pakistan paid $ 120 million in interest on a $ 3 billion loan.
China has been working hard to recover money from Pakistan. In the first week of April 2022, China demanded that the debt be repaid when the new political government came to power under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Last year, China demanded $ 38 million in compensation for the families of 36 engineers who died in the Dasu Dam terrorist attack. It was stipulated that the work should be resumed only if compensation is paid. To appease China, Pakistan agreed to pay $ 11.6 million in compensation.
While China is largely responsible for Pakistan’s debt crisis, experts say the current economic crisis is due to the mismanagement of Pakistan’s economy by successive governments. Experts also say that huge loans from China, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the past 30 years have been a major factor in the economic downturn.
In addition, the International Monetary Fund suspended $ 6 billion in debt in 2019 for failing to meet credit requirements. Paradoxically, Pakistan is not ashamed to present itself as a debt slave.
Experts say the day is not far off when Pakistan will also face a severe crisis on the way to Sri Lanka, as Pakistan will be the next country to face the consequences of bad economic policies and high debt burdens.
Read more | Do you know how much money former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani took?
Independent uncompromising messages in the palm of your hand!
Follow us on social media to get instant news and share your thoughts.
முகZEETamilNews on Facebook, on Twitter @ZeeTamilNews And Like the page at Telegram https://t.me/ZeeTamilNews.
Download Zee Tamil News Processor now to get all kinds of news in Tamil like education, entertainment, politics, sports, health, lifestyle, social, employment !!
Android Link – https://bit.ly/3hDyh4G
Apple Link – https://apple.co/3loQYeR