Islamic Republic of Pakistan : News, Discussions & Updates

Despite promises, Pakistan unlikely to get heavy funding by June

ISLAMABAD: Despite having firm commitments of roughly $26 billion, the government is unlikely to get any major injection from traditional lenders in the next four months, restricting its options and pushing it to rely on foreign commercial loans and Eurobonds to meet pressing external financing needs.

The external situation became precarious after imports in January peaked at $5.6 billion – the highest level in 70 years. The ballooning trade bill suggests measures like heavy regulatory duty and non-tariff barriers to curb imports had failed to work as warned by the experts. The 5% rupee depreciation in December 2017 also could not do wonders and exports rose only modestly.

The State Bank of Pakistan’s gross foreign currency reserves are already down to $13.1 billion, lower than what Pakistan had before floating bonds in November 2017.

The Economic Affairs Division had estimated receiving around $550 million more from the ADB till June this year, which would take its total disbursements to slightly over $1 billion, said the sources. However, lending from the World Bank will not touch even $1 billion this year.

In the first half of the current fiscal year, Pakistan received less than $220 million from the World Bank against annual estimate of $1.04 billion.
 
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Pakistan borrows $500 million from China to shore up its reserves

Pakistan has contracted another foreign commercial loan of $500 million from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to shore up its depleting reserves.

The Express Tribune reported that the with new borrowing the Chinese financial institution's contribution to supporting a strong rupee against the US dollar increased to $1 billion in just three months.

It further reported quoting sources in the finance ministry that the government contracted the loan on January 15 at a rate in the range of 4.5 per cent.

In January, the country took a total of $704 million worth of new loans, taking foreign borrowings to $6.6 billion in just seven months of this fiscal year, sources said.

The foreign loans were equal to 86 per cent of the annual budgetary estimates that parliament had approved in June last year. This suggests that foreign loans for the second consecutive year may cross USD 10 billion.

China was the single largest lender that gave a total of USD 1.6 billion, which was equal to one-fourth of the total foreign loans Pakistan has received in the last seven months.

Beijing also gave roughly $610 million for project financing during the first seven months.

In terms of source, sovereign bonds were the single largest source after Islamabad raised USD 2.5 billion in November, which contributed roughly 38 per cent to total foreign loans.

It was the second loan that the ICBC has given to Pakistan to support its diminishing foreign currency reserves, which are largely used to defend a strong rupee and finance the trade deficit. The ICBC had also given USD 500 million in October last year.

Sources in the State Bank of Pakistan said that it was still intervening in the exchange market to keep the dollar-rupee parity at current level.

In December, the central bank let the rupee depreciate by 5.2 per cent against the US dollar. But it was still far less than the International Monetary Fund's assessment of the real value of the rupee.

With fresh foreign loans, the total foreign commercial borrowings in the first seven months of this fiscal year have increased to USD 1.8 billion, said the sources. The finance ministry had informed parliament in June last year that it would obtain USD 1 billion as commercial loans during 2017-18 that will end on June 30. However, it has already breached the limit with five months remaining.

So far, Citibank has given $267 million, Credit Suisse AG loaned USD 255 million, Standard Chartered Bank London $200 million and Dubai Bank $55.9 million. The share of foreign commercial banks in total loans stood at 27 per cent.

The loans are obtained to stop the downward slide of the official foreign currency reserves that currently stand at $12.8 billion even after issuing $2.5 billion worth of sovereign bonds in November.

The ministry is trying in vain to stop the reserves from slipping below the two-and-a-half-month import bill cover, which at current value of the import bill stands at $12.3 billion.

Official foreign currency reserves have depleted by USD 3.5 billion since July. The current account deficit during the first half of the fiscal year widened to over USD 7.5 billion.

Pakistan's total external debt and liabilities as of December 2017 stood at USD 88.9 billion, higher by $5.8 billion or 6.9 per cent over six months ago.

The main increase came by issuing sovereign bonds and taking expensive commercial loans. In the first half, debt obligated by issuing NSukuk and Eurobonds increased by 52 per cent to $7.3 billion.
 
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Butter Chicken said:
#Gilgit: Protests by relatives of people from Peshawar and other areas languishing in jails in China.

I spent 10 years in a Chinese prison. I appeal to the Pakistan Government to bring back prisoners from China. I feel ashamed as the China-Pakistan friendship is totally fallacious. They just show off to the world, but nobody is aware of the reality: Nazir Ahmed,protester

https://twitter.com/x/status/962521464590229505
Click to expand...


This is a Tamilian.

All who protest against Pakistani policies are immediately honorary Tamilians. If you don't believe me, take a placard with "Welcome to Secunderabad" written on it in Urdu,

سیکنڈر آباد میں آپ کا استقبال

and go and shout it out outside the Pakistani Embassy (or is it High Commission? Are they in or out of the Commonwealth this decade?), and check the headlines in Dawn.
 
Butter Chicken said:
Pakistan borrows $500 million from China to shore up its reserves

Pakistan has contracted another foreign commercial loan of $500 million from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to shore up its depleting reserves.

The Express Tribune reported that the with new borrowing the Chinese financial institution's contribution to supporting a strong rupee against the US dollar increased to $1 billion in just three months.

It further reported quoting sources in the finance ministry that the government contracted the loan on January 15 at a rate in the range of 4.5 per cent.

In January, the country took a total of $704 million worth of new loans, taking foreign borrowings to $6.6 billion in just seven months of this fiscal year, sources said.

The foreign loans were equal to 86 per cent of the annual budgetary estimates that parliament had approved in June last year. This suggests that foreign loans for the second consecutive year may cross USD 10 billion.

China was the single largest lender that gave a total of USD 1.6 billion, which was equal to one-fourth of the total foreign loans Pakistan has received in the last seven months.

Beijing also gave roughly $610 million for project financing during the first seven months.

In terms of source, sovereign bonds were the single largest source after Islamabad raised USD 2.5 billion in November, which contributed roughly 38 per cent to total foreign loans.

It was the second loan that the ICBC has given to Pakistan to support its diminishing foreign currency reserves, which are largely used to defend a strong rupee and finance the trade deficit. The ICBC had also given USD 500 million in October last year.

Sources in the State Bank of Pakistan said that it was still intervening in the exchange market to keep the dollar-rupee parity at current level.

In December, the central bank let the rupee depreciate by 5.2 per cent against the US dollar. But it was still far less than the International Monetary Fund's assessment of the real value of the rupee.

With fresh foreign loans, the total foreign commercial borrowings in the first seven months of this fiscal year have increased to USD 1.8 billion, said the sources. The finance ministry had informed parliament in June last year that it would obtain USD 1 billion as commercial loans during 2017-18 that will end on June 30. However, it has already breached the limit with five months remaining.

So far, Citibank has given $267 million, Credit Suisse AG loaned USD 255 million, Standard Chartered Bank London $200 million and Dubai Bank $55.9 million. The share of foreign commercial banks in total loans stood at 27 per cent.

The loans are obtained to stop the downward slide of the official foreign currency reserves that currently stand at $12.8 billion even after issuing $2.5 billion worth of sovereign bonds in November.

The ministry is trying in vain to stop the reserves from slipping below the two-and-a-half-month import bill cover, which at current value of the import bill stands at $12.3 billion.

Official foreign currency reserves have depleted by USD 3.5 billion since July. The current account deficit during the first half of the fiscal year widened to over USD 7.5 billion.

Pakistan's total external debt and liabilities as of December 2017 stood at USD 88.9 billion, higher by $5.8 billion or 6.9 per cent over six months ago.

The main increase came by issuing sovereign bonds and taking expensive commercial loans. In the first half, debt obligated by issuing NSukuk and Eurobonds increased by 52 per cent to $7.3 billion.
Click to expand...

The way to hell is paved with good intentions.
 
Cousin Of Disappeared Sindhi Journalist Also Picked Up By "Deep State"

A government school teacher was allegedly whisked away by men in civvies and police uniform in Sindh's Badin district on Friday, a day after his cousin, a former Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) activist, was picked up in a similar fashion.

The men who arrived in police mobiles and other vehicles whisked away Ubaidullah Jarwar, a primary school teacher, from a village some 70 kilometres away from Badin early on Friday, said his cousin Naseerullah Jarwar.

Naseerullah, whose brother Rafaqat Jarwar was taken away while he was sitting at a shop in Badin's Tando Bago town on Thursday, while talking to Dawn said Ubaidullah was whisked away in an identical manner as his brother. He said Badin police, including Badin SSP Abdul Qayyum Pitafi, was still denying that local police had been behind the "arrests".

Local journalists and workers of various political parties staged demonstrations in Tando Bago, Talhar, Matli and other towns of Badin and demanded the release of the two men.
 
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Senate Approves Motion to Declare Chinese as Official Language

Slowly but surely Pakistan is becoming 6th province of China.... @safriz Chinese will dump Islam as they did in Xinjiang where they make mullahs dance and ban Koran and its teaching..... Welcome to new master, Pakistan will now be slave province of lizard Stan...

 
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