ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has secured debt rollover commitments from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a year, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, as the Pakistani finance minister expressed hope of getting an approval from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board for a $7 billion loan dead by the end of this month.
Pakistan last month reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF for a new $7 billion loan program to keep its fragile $350 billion economy afloat.
But the South Asian nation reportedly needed financing commitments from bilateral donors to get a final nod from the IMF board for the fresh bailout.
“Pakistan has secured commitments from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to roll over debt for a year,” a Bloomberg report said on Tuesday. “Pakistan has $12 billion in bilateral loans that have been extended for the past few years.”
The South Asian nation completed a short-term $3 billion IMF program in April this year, which helped Islamabad avert a sovereign default last year.
“We are quite hopeful that the staff-level agreement will be converted into a board approval by the end of the month,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said, while addressing an event in Islamabad on Tuesday.
Bloomberg quoted Aurangzeb as saying that the amount of rollovers would be the same as last year.
Aurangzeb expected the incumbent Pakistani government to manage a $5 billion financing gap during the IMF’s three-year program, according to Bloomberg. He believed that Pakistan was moving in the right direction with a stable currency.
Pakistan was also aiming to improve its credit rating to “B-” after Fitch Ratings last month upgraded it by one notch to “CCC+,” following a staff-level agreement with the IMF.
The IMF earlier said the new loan deal, which would span 37 months, was aimed at strengthening fiscal and monetary policy as well as reforms to broaden the tax base, improve management of state-owned enterprises, strengthen competition, secure investment, enhance human capital, and scale up social protection through increased generosity and coverage in major welfare programs.
The deal came after the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif presented its first budget in parliament in June, setting an ambitious tax collection target.
Analysts said at the time the new budget of about $68 billion, up from $50 billion in the last year, was likely to land a longer-term IMF bailout to help stabilize the economy.
Pakistan secures debt rollover commitments from China, Saudi Arabia and UAE — Bloomberg
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Pakistan secures debt rollover commitments from China, Saudi Arabia and UAE — Bloomberg
- Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb says the South Asian country has bilateral loans amounting to $12 billion
- Pakistan needed financing commitments from bilateral donors to get a nod from IMF for a new $7 billion loan deal
Pakistan steps up local vaccine manufacturing push with Saudi cooperation Eleven-member Saudi delegation’ to arrive in Pakistan today to give practical shape to local vaccine manufacturing in Pakistan, says health ministry Domestic vaccine manufacturing
- Talks with Saudi delegation aim to support domestic production for national immunization needs, ministry says
- Pakistan currently imports all vaccines, which ramps up foreign exchange and procurement pressures
ISLAMABAD: A high-level Saudi delegation is arriving in Pakistan today, Monday, to give practical shape to local vaccine manufacturing in Pakistan, the health ministry said in a statement amid Islamabad’s push to meet its national immunization needs.
The eleven-member Saudi delegation’s visit marks a “critical milestone” in strengthening bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in health, pharmaceutical manufacturing and industrial collaboration, the ministry said.
It added that the development takes place after Pakistan Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal held three meetings with his Saudi counterpart over the past seven months in which both sides discussed local vaccine manufacturing, investment opportunities and technical cooperation. Kamal also met Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry to discuss the same. Both sides designated focal persons to ensure effective coordination and follow-up after the meetings.
“The visit of the high-level Saudi delegation is expected to prove a decisive step toward giving practical shape to the process of local vaccine manufacturing in Pakistan,” Kamal was quoted as saying by the health ministry.
The Pakistani health minister reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to establishing local vaccine production facilities, stating that domestic manufacturing will not only meet Pakistan’s national immunization needs but will also enable surplus production for export.
This, he said, would contribute to Pakistan’s economic growth and national stability.
“Ensuring the availability of safe, high-quality vaccines for the public remains the government’s top priority, ” the minister said.
Since Pakistan does not produce vaccines locally, it has to import them from other countries. Producing vaccines will help the South Asian country save valuable foreign exchange and avoid longer procurement delays as it seeks to inoculate its population against various diseases.
Pakistan, a country of over 240 million people, regularly holds national immunization campaigns against diseases such as polio, measles, rubella and hepatitis.
