Pakistan hopeful of getting another debt relief of US$1 bn from G-20

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is hopeful to get a third relief in debt payments from the G-20 countries, seeking a suspension of over US$1 billion payments, ARY NEWS reported on Tuesday quoting sources.   

According to sources privy to the matter, the country has sought an overall debt relief of US$3.78 billion from the G-20 countries which would be provided in three phases.

“Pakistan has already received relief in two phases,” they said adding that in the first phase, debt payments of over US$1.6 billion have been suspended for the period between May to December 2020.

The second relief of over US$1.1 billion, according to sources, was received for a period of January to June 2021.

They said that Pakistan is now expecting a third relief between a period of July to December 2021, aiming for a suspension of US$1.052 of debt payments from the G-20 countries.

Back in April 2020, the G20 countries have provided a major relief to Pakistan by postponing debt payments worth $12 billion in the current fiscal year and approved the time period up to 2.5 years for the payments of loan installments and interest.

Read More: PM Imran welcomes debt relief measures by G20, IMF for developing countries

It is pertinent to mention here that Prime Minister Imran Khan had called for a ‘Global Initiative on Debt Relief’ for developing countries amid coronavirus crisis on April 12 in order to ‘promote coordinated health and economic response’.

PM Imran Khan appealed to the international community in a video message for taking an initiative on the relief for the developing countries and also invited United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres to work with him in advancing the objectives of a coordinated response.