China rejects concerns over CPEC-related debt

BEIJING:

China said on Friday that Pakistan's debt relating to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) formed a small percentage of the country's total public debt, therefore, any claims by detractors regarding Islamabad's debt obligations were not factual.

A spokesperson said that CPEC contributed positively and transparently to Pakistan's national development and helped address development gaps in energy, infrastructure, industrialisation and job creation. He added that the loan advanced by China had longer maturity periods and low interest rates.

The spokesperson responded to an opinion piece in the New York Times last week, claiming that Pakistan was mired in a deep economic crisis that it couldn't climb out of it partly because it needed to pay billions of dollars in loans to China for infrastructure and other projects.

"The claims made by some commentators, including in the article that you mentioned in your question, regarding Pakistan's debt obligations relating to CPEC, are therefore not based on facts," the spokesperson said, replying to a question.

"As we have said in the past, Pakistan's total public debt relating to CPEC projects is a small percentage of its total debt. Moreover, the public debt obtained from China has longer maturity periods with low interest rates," the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson underlined that CPEC was a transformational project that had contributed positively and transparently to Pakistan's national development, adding that the megaproject enjoyed support and popularity in all the provinces of Pakistan and across the country's political divide.

"CPEC is a long term project that has helped address development gaps in energy, infrastructure, industrialization and job creation. We also believe that regional economic connectivity will provide a critical stimulus for creating broad based growth across the region the spokesperson added.