China to support Pakistan securing approval from IMF Board

The Chinese government has praised Pakistan’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and pledged to play its part in gaining clearance from the Fund’s board, according to Minister of Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb on Sunday.

The minister added at a press conference that he and the minister of energy, Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, had visited China and had productive talks with Chinese officials, including the president of the Bank of China and the minister of finance.

The minister also revealed that, at the beginning of June of last year, he and the energy minister travelled to China, where they had talks on a variety of topics related to bilateral trade and economic cooperation, such as local energy needs and the introduction of Panda bonds into Chinese markets.

Re-profiling of energy sector loans was also discussed during the recent visit to China, he added, adding that other high-level talks also covered the conversion of energy facilities into coal and other factors for affordable energy generation.

He explained that the Chinese government had acknowledged our concerns and made sure they were reported to the appropriate body, but that in order to proceed, certain procedures needed to be followed. He stated that they also wished to assist the nation with re-profiling.

He continued by saying that this would be accomplished within the framework of memorandums of understandings or different working groups that would be established to advance the issues in the days ahead.