Pakistan and China finalize $3.7 billion loan deals

Pakistan and China have signed $3.7 billion equivalent commercial loan deals this week, pulling the foreign exchange reserves back to the double-digits from the critically low level of $8.9 billion in last week.

The deals would also help meet a commitment with the International Monetary Fund to close the fiscal year 2024-25 with $14 billion gross foreign exchange reserves.

Official sources told The Express Tribune that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and the Bank of China have signed a total $1.6 billion deals on Friday. The money will be disbursed by Monday, which is the last day of the current fiscal year.

At one stage it appeared that China may not sign the $1.6 billion deals this week, which resulted in hectic backdoor economic diplomacy. The sources said that Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar played a critical role in finalising the deals after he was approached by the finance ministry.

Dar first started pursuing the Chinese authorities on May 19 that eventually led to the signing and disbursement of $2.1 billion commercial loan by a syndicate of three Chinese commercial banks this week.

A $2.1 billion or 15 billion RMB syndicate financing loan by three Chinese commercial banks matured a few days ago, which pulled the reserves down to $8.9 billion, said the sources. Unlike rollovers of Chinese cash deposits of $4 billion, the Chinese commercial loans have to be first repaid before these are refinanced on new terms and conditions.

China has given this $2.1 billion money in RMB currency, which is also reflected in the foreign exchange reserves of the central bank. As a result, the foreign exchange reserves jumped to $12.4 billion on Friday, said the sources.

The China Development Bank has given 9 billion RMB, Bank of China 3 billion RMB and ICBC 3 billion RMB. The loan is being extended for a period of three years, said the government sources.

There were still $1.6 billion pending amounts, which were slipping to next fiscal year. Ishaq Dar on Friday received confirmation from the Chinese authorities that the remaining two commercial loans have also been finalized and the money will be disbursed very soon, the sources added.

In total, Pakistan and China have finalized $3.7 billion worth of commercial loans deals in the past few days. The Friday deal included a $1.3 billion loan of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). The ICBC had given the loan two years ago at floating interest rates, which translated to around 7.5%.

The Bank of China's $300 million loan was also finalized and will be disbursed in Chinese currency. The move to delink loans from the US dollar is not Pakistan specific rather it is part of the overall Chinese policy to decouple its economy from the US currency.

Pakistan remains dependent on Beijing for remaining afloat, the friendly nation that is constantly rolling over the $4 billion cash deposits, $5.4 billion worth commercial loans and $4.3 billion trade financing facility.

The ADB-backed $1 billion foreign non-Chinese commercial loan was also disbursed last week.

During the week ended on 20th June, the SBP reserves decreased by $2.7 billion to $9.1 billion due to external debt repayments, mainly repayment of commercial borrowing, according to a statement that the central bank issued on Friday. During the current week, SBP has received commercial loans equivalent to $3.1 billion and multilateral loans of over $500 million, it added.

The foreign exchange reserves slipping to below $9 billion mark underscores the vulnerability of the fragile external sector stability. Heavy dependency on foreign borrowings should also be a matter of concern for the government.

The rupee-dollar parity has again started coming under pressure after the central bank went on a heavy buying spree, said the sources. There was also a shortage of foreign currency in the market, which was leading to depreciation of the rupee and compelling commercial banks not to open letter of credits for the imports.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said that the foreign exchange reserves would close over $14 billion by the end of this fiscal year.

Islamabad has also sought the rescheduling of the government's concessional loans, preferential buyer credit, and the buyer's credit from the Export-Import (Exim) Bank of China. China has not agreed to reschedule the buyer's credit loans, they added.

China has shown willingness to reschedule $1.8 billion worth of government concessional loans and the preferential buyer credit by next month. These loans have been taken for various projects and are over and above the commercial financing that Chinese banks have given to Pakistan.