The Prime Minister said the nuclear power project was a significant step towards economic cooperation between the two countries…reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Pakistan and China for a 1200MW Chashma-5 (C-5) nuclear power project worth $3.48 billion, local media reported.
China National Nuclear Corporation Overseas Ltd (CNOS) President and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Member Power Muhammad Saeed Ur Rehman signed the MoU.
On the occasion, the Prime Minister said the nuclear power project was a significant step towards economic cooperation between the two countries, Geo News reported.
He said the decision to start this project had been taken, and the main conditions were agreed upon during his previous term as Prime Minister; however, the successive government put this project in cold storage.
He said due to the higher global inflation, the project would have cost much more than that determined in 2017-18, but the Chinese government not only abstained from raising the cost but also gave a discount of around Rs 30 billion, Geo News reported.
Vowing to kick-start the project without delay, the Pakistan prime minister said under the difficult economic situation, investment from China in this project to the tune of $3.48 billion sent a clear message that Pakistan was a place where Chinese companies and investors continued to show their trust and faith.
“This reflects the famous quote that our friendship is higher than the Himalayas, deeper than the deepest ocean, sweeter than sugar and honey, and stronger than iron and steel. He said President Xi Jinping had called this friendship “iron brothers”, Geo News reported.
Furthermore, he added that he had recently inaugurated a K-3 nuclear project in Karachi.
Sharif also glorified China for “stepping up” to support Pakistan when the cash-strapped nation was left in the lurch by the lender of the last resort amid a bailout limbo, a media outlet reported.
“The agreement with the IMF has been unusually delayed and China once again came to our rescue,” the premier said during the ceremony.
The country has barely enough currency reserves to cover one month’s imports. It had hoped to have $1.1 billion of the funds released in November – but the IMF has insisted on a number of conditions before it makes any more disbursements, Geo News reported.
Consequently, Pakistan hoped China would continue to ease its payments pressure by extending loans as concerns arose that the South Asian nation could become the next emerging market to default.
The nation plans to repay a $300 million loan to China on Friday and another $1 billion loan will be rolled over by June 30, State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmad said earlier. Pakistan also returned a separate $1 billion loan to China recently which was refinanced last week.
“When Pakistan is faced with economic challenges, and we are also engaged with IMF to finalise the ninth review and met all conditions required by the IMF, China once again came to our help,” Prime Minister Shehbaz was quoted as saying by the media outlet.
Chinese support comes as odds are that the cash-strapped nation will fail to restart its loan programme -with the lender – that expires at the end of June. The country has pledged to repay its debt and faces about $23 billion of external debt payments for the fiscal year that starts in July.
China has extended loans annually to Pakistan for many years. The central bank expects debt of $2.3 billion to be rolled over in June after Chinese banks extended another $2 billion in March, the media outlet reported.
ALSO READ: Modernised PLA signals China’s aggressive posturing
[soliloquy id="151345"]