Pakistan granted rollover on $2.4b Chinese loan

KARACHI, July 27 (AFP): China has granted Pakistan a two-year rollover on a $2.4 billion loan, Islamabad said Thursday, giving the debt-saddled nation breathing space in its balance-of-payments crisis.
Soaring inflation, shrinking dollar reserves and crippling foreign debt led Pakistan to the brink of default before a pivotal $3 billion IMF bailout was granted earlier this month.
Securing supplemental backing from friendly nations was a key condition for the global lender granting further support to Pakistan.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said China's EXIM Bank had rolled over for two years principal amounts on twin debts of $1.2 billion that had been due in the fiscal years 2023/24 and 2024/25.
"Pakistan will make interest payments only," Dar said on Twitter. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia topped up Pakistan's forex reserves by $3 billion before the IMF standby deal was confirmed.