Chinese consortium inks $2.3 bln refinancing agreement with Pakistan: finance minister

Islamabad: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail Wednesday said a consortium of Chinese banks had inked the $2.3-billion loan facility with Pakistan.

The development comes as the South Asian economy battles a widening current account deficit and dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

“The Chinese consortium of banks has today signed the RMB 15 billion (~$2.3 billion) loan facility agreement after it was signed by the Pakistani side yesterday,” said Miftah in a tweet.

The finance minister said that the inflow is expected within a couple of days.

“We thank the Chinese government for facilitating this transaction,” he added.

The Chinese consortium of banks has today signed the RMB 15 billion (~$2.3 billion) loan facility agreement after it was signed by the Pakistani side yesterday. Inflow is expected within a couple of days. We thank the Chinese government for facilitating this transaction.

— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) June 22, 2022

Earlier this month, Miftah had announced that the the terms and conditions of the refinancing agreement had been reached but some "routine approvals from both sides" were pending.

At the time he had said the deal would "help shore up our foreign exchange reserves."