By Muhammad Luqman
Pakistan is expected to get a major debt relief from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a statement on Thursday.
“About 70 countries including Pakistan will benefit from the relief,” Qureshi explained..
Foreign Minister said that this relief will be for a period of one year and will be applicable from the 1st of May.
He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had appealed to the world leaders and institutions to restructure loans of the developing countries to cope with the coronavirus challenge. He said this will enable the developing countries to divert their resources to the protection of lives of the people and make their health systems more effective to respond to the challenge of coronavirus pandemic.
#Pakistan expected to get #DebtRelief from 1st May: FM @SMQureshiPTI https://t.co/HTkyDdQuCe #Covid_19 #CoronavirusPandemic #TogetherWeCan #COVID__19 #COVID19
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) April 16, 2020
He said this appeal of the Prime Minister was endorsed by the UN Secretary General, the IMF and the G-20 countries.
Prime Minister Imran Khan appealed for a “Global Initiative on Debt Relief” saying that Covid-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented health and economic challenges.
In a televised appeal to the international community on Sunday last, particularly the developed world and the United Nations, the Prime Minister asserted that the global pandemic cannot be contained without strong, coordinated and well-crafted global response.
Just a day ago, the Group of 20 nations announced a one-year debt relief for the world’s poorest nations as they struggle to financially cope with the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement comes as the global economy is plunged into the worst recession in a century.
The G20, which brings together the world’s largest economies, also reiterated the pledge to deploy “all available policy tools” to deal with the health and economic crisis caused by COVID-19.
Pakistan’s total external debt stands around $105 billion. It is seeking a role over of half of its $28 billion external debt that is maturing in next three years.
The South Asian country was given major debt relief in 2001 when western countries including the United States suspended around $11 billion debt for 15 years. That decision was meant to acknowledge Pakistan’s role in the fight against terror after 9/11 attacks.
