China rolls over $600m for Pakistan

PM calls for unity on ‘Charter of Economy’

The Export-Import (Exim) bank China rolled over another loan of $600 million for Pakistan which helped increase the country’s foreign exchange reserves, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday, as he launched multiple initiatives for promoting sports, culture and welfare of the sportspeople.

The prime minister also inaugurated the ‘Online Temporary Mobile Registration System for the Overseas Pakistanis and Foreign Nationals’, and performed the groundbreaking of the Islamabad Model Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the federal capital.

“Yesterday [Monday] the Exim Bank of the all-weather friendly country, China, had rolled over another $600 million for Pakistan,” Shehbaz said. “Our forex reserves are going up but I wish that these reserves should increase on the back of our own resources rather than the foreign debts,” he added.

During the ceremony the prime minister launched various sports-related projects, including Rs5 billion Pakistan Sports Endowment Fund; first dedicated Sports University; the Prime Minister Youth Sports Initiative; and the Elite Sportspersons Development Programme and E-Sports development programme.

Later, inaugurating the ‘Online Temporary Mobile Registration System for the Overseas Pakistanis and Foreign Nationals’, he said that Pakistan possessed immense talent in the information technology (IT) sector as millions of young people were getting IT education.

The prime minister said that under the Prime Minister’s Youth Programmes, a huge chunk of funds had been set aside to imparting vocational and skills development education to the youth, besides the laptops were being given to the students on merit.

Meanwhile, addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of the Islamabad Model SEZ, Shehbaz reiterated his call for the nation to unite for ‘Charter of Economy’ to ensure consistency of economic policies and putting the country on the path to progress and prosperity.

Shehbaz said after the signing of the agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF), the risks for country’s default had ebbed. He added that Pakistan’s forex reserves had reached $14 billion and now “we have to forge unity among our ranks and agree to a ‘Charter of Economy’”.

“Now we will have to get out of the loans and attract investment. This is what the Model Special Economic Zone for – to attract investment from China, UAE, Qatar and others to take Pakistan at par with the neighbouring nations,” he said.

He also told the gathering that a Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) had been established with a mandate of attracting foreign investment to the agriculture, mining, information technology and exports sectors.

He stressed that the country would have to focus on boosting exports to compete with the neighbouring states, particularly the eastern neighbour. He said import of second-hand machinery from China could help boost the exports.

“The Chinese industry has gone hi-tech. Pakistan has the golden opportunity to learn from the Chinese textile expertise, go for joint ventures and bring Chinese second-hand machinery to Pakistan to boost our exports,” Shehbaz said.

The Model SEZ – one of nine SEZs planned under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – was launched after a delay of five years. Shehbaz blamed the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for the delay.

“Between 2015 and 2018, investment of $30 billion came to Pakistan under CPEC, but [in the tenure of the PTI government] all the projects under CPEC were frozen,” he said. “The previous government not only impeded the CPEC projects but also made conscious effort to undermine the Pakistan-China ties.”

He told the groundbreaking ceremony that during last 14 months, the incumbent government remained in a “fire-fight” as it had to cope with the unprecedented floods and record inflation begotten by the Ukraine war.

He said that the government would abide by the IMF agreement which had laid a basis for the economic reforms. After the IMF agreement, he added, the government would focus on boosting industrial and agriculture sectors.

He said that land to investors in SEZs should be provided on easy terms. He also called for establishing a mechanism to cancel the lease agreement if the investor failed to develop the industry within the specified timeframe.

Separately, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani called on Prime Minister Shehbaz and discussed with him the overall political situation in the country. The meeting also discussed progress of development projects in Balochistan.

The Senate chairman appreciated the restoration of work at Dalbandin Airport on an emergency basis. He also lauded the efforts of the prime minister and his economic team for materialisation of deal with the IMF.

Shehbaz also discussed the matter of Punjab government employees’ pensions and salaries with caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi via telephone. He stressed the need for raising salaries and pensions of Punjab government employees at par with the federal government employees.