China, Kuwait promise $4.3b debt rollover

Pakistan likely to receive $1.21b from IMF in Dec

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan has secured assurances from China and Kuwait to roll over $4.3 billion in loans, following a similar arrangement from Saudi Arabia, taking the total financial relief expected from the three countries to $7.3 billion.

According to Finance Ministry sources, China will roll over $4 billion in loans, while Kuwait will extend a rollover of $300 million. The Chinese loan is expected to be rolled over in March 2027, with all three countries extending the arrangements for approximately one year.

The commitments are expected to ease Pakistan's external financing pressures, with $7.3 billion in rollovers accounting for a substantial portion of the country's $21 billion in debt repayments due during the current fiscal year. Sources also said Pakistan was expected to receive $1.21 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in December, providing further support to its external financing position.

The latest assurances follow Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb's statement a day earlier that Saudi Arabia had already rolled over its $3 billion loan. Speaking to the media at Parliament House, Aurangzeb said the Saudi loan arrangement had been deferred until a reasonable time.

He added that he had held a productive meeting with the Saudi finance minister, expressing confidence in the longstanding relationship between the two countries. "We do not need to worry," Aurangzeb said, adding that Pakistan did not currently require any additional financial assistance from Saudi Arabia.

He said the country had foreign exchange reserves sufficient to cover three months of imports, indicating that its immediate external payment position remained manageable.

He also pointed out that Pakistan had to repay approximately 1.5 billion euros in Eurobonds annually, adding that the government was working to ensure that there were no difficulties in meeting these obligations. He further said the IMF Executive Board could meet in December to consider Pakistan's programme matters, although the date of the meeting had not yet been confirmed.

Pakistan remains dependent on the rollover of the existing debts by the bilateral and commercial creditors to whom the country owes $10.5 billion this fiscal year.

Saudi Arabia has given $8 billion short-term debt but it has already rolled over the repayment of $5 billion till December 2028.

The minister further said that Pakistan had asked for the liquidity support facility of $10 billion back in July. At that time, we were looking for market access. We got market access in the first week of September, in which we raised $3 billion and the order book was $6 billion, he added.

While sharing his plan sans the US facility scenario, the Finance Minister said that Pakistan would rely on Eurobond issuances, Panda bond issuances, and these dollar-settled rupee-linked bonds.

To a question whether the US authorities had indicated extending the facility, the Finance Minister said that Pakistan made a request - "if that's possible, that's fine; if it's not possible even then it's fine".

The news about a possible $10 billion US stability facility had surprised many and a few had drawn parallel with a similar facility for Argentina. However, the chances of its materialization remained negligible from the beginning.