Another $500m from Chinese bank to be received soon: Ishaq Dar

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance has completed documentation for the second disbursement of $500 million from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar said on Thursday.

“Out of Chinese ICBC’s approved rollover facility of US$1.3 billion (which was earlier repaid by Pakistan to ICBC in recent months), documentation for second disbursement of US$500 million has been completed by Finance Ministry for release of funds to the State Bank of Pakistan,” he said in a Tweet.

Earlier this month, Pakistan received $500 million from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC).

The friendly country has extended the tranche after Islamabad fulfilled almost all the tough conditions for the revival of the IMF loan programme.

IMF deal to be made public

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has assured that details of the staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be made public.

Speaking at the Senate Committee of the Whole on Thursday, he said once the agreement was signed, it would be put on the website of the Finance Ministry for review of the general public and nothing would be concealed. The finance minister said he believed in transparency and fiscal discipline in the country.

Responding to points raised earlier in the Committee, he said nobody in Pakistan could compromise the nuclear and missile assets of the country. He further said, “We are a sovereign nation and nobody in the world has the right to tell us what range of missiles we should have.”