By 
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has confirmed that Beijing has rolled over its $2 billion loan to Pakistan for another year, despite rumors to the contrary.
Speaking in the Senate today on a point raised by PPP leader Raza Rabbani, he dismissed as speculative a report in foreign media that Pakistan is still waiting for the Chinese loan to be rolled over.
According to Ishaq Dar, the rollover occurred on March 23. He also stated that the documentation for the rollover has been completed and is no longer in the works.
He went on to say that Pakistan currently has two types of safe deposits with China. One is between the Central Bank of China and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), and Islamabad also has relationships with Chinese commercial banks such as the Bank of China, ICBC, and China Development Bank.
Islamabad is working hard to secure external financing from friendly countries in order to restart the International Monetary Fund’s stalled loan program (IMF).
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is expected to raise interest rates by 2% at the next meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in response to IMF demand.
