Islamabad: Iran and China are extending a helping hand when Pakistan is stuck in a severe economic crisis.
Following Sri Lanka, Pakistan is stuck in a severe economic crisis. Inflation in Pakistan rose to 24.5% at the end of last month. The prices of essential food items in the open market increased by 30% to 50% over the previous month. Currently, a liter of milk in Pakistan costs Rs 250 and meat costs Rs 750. Due to this, the daily life of the common man is becoming a challenge.
It is in this context that Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said, “Pakistan is already bankrupt. Everyone including politicians and officials are responsible for this. We live in a bankrupt country. The solution to our problems lies within our country. “The International Monetary Fund has no solution to Pakistan’s problems,” he said publicly last week.
In this situation, Iran and China are extending a helping hand to Pakistan. On the one hand, Iran is improving trade with Pakistan. In the last 10 months, the volume of bilateral trade has reached 2 billion dollars, and the target has been set at 5 billion dollars, Iran said.
On the other hand, China has given a loan of about 700 million dollars to Pakistan. It is from China that Pakistan received the largest amount of credit assistance during its crisis. China’s foreign ministry said the Chinese loan to Pakistan will arrive by the end of this week.