Pakistan has communicated to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it has asked China to roll over $2 billion in SAFE (State Administration of Foreign Exchange) deposits for one year.
The government has already made the request to the Chinese side for granting rollover of $2 billion SAFE deposits, which is going to mature by end of the ongoing month, reported a national daily.
“Under the planned schemes of things, the revival of the IMF program will enable Islamabad to muster up the required dollar funding from all possible avenues including multilateral, bilateral and commercial financing as well as getting rollover of upcoming China’s SAFE deposits to the tune of $2 billion,” the report added.
Another top official stated that while China verbally assured the rollover of $2 billion in SAFE deposits, it would be preferable if it was done by Beijing and then announced in the coming weeks.
Islamabad has already informed the IMF that it has implemented all prior conditions and that both parties should now move quickly to sign the staff-level agreement.
The lender’s Resident Representative Esther Perez Ruiz told Reuters on Monday that external financing is one of the final steps the lender wants Pakistan to take before clearing funding that has been stalled since late last year.
She said, “All IMF program reviews require firm and credible assurances that there is sufficient financing to ensure that the borrowing member’s balance of payments is fully financed … over the remainder of the program. Pakistan is no exception”.
