Pakistan
G20: Pakistan hopes to get $1bn debt relief
Islamabad: COVID-19 hit Pakistan is expecting to get around $1 billion relief from G-20, media reports said.
It will include $785 million worth of pause on principal loan repayments and the remaining on account of interest repayments, reports Gulf News.
The G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors in a joint communiqué recently announced a final 6-month extension through December 2021 in Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to help developing countries deal with the coronavirus pandemic, reports the newspaper.
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Khusro Bakhtiar was quoted as saying by the newspaper that the debt relief will provide much needed fiscal space to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and meet the urgent economic needs of the country.
Pakistani officials are looking for debt suspension of about $900 million to $1 billion from bilateral creditors under DSSI Phase-III and would submit a formal request for relief after discussion within the relevant ministries, reports Gulf News.
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