Pakistan seeks rescheduling of $27 billion bilateral debt: Finance Minister

Dar, who is participating in the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, said that the country sought restructuring on equal terms for all bilateral creditors

By Reuters

Published: Sat 15 Oct 2022, 8:21 AM

On Friday, Pakistan's new Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, told Reuters that he would seek the reschedule of about $27 billion worth of non-Paris Club debt largely owed to China, but would not pursue haircuts as part of any restructuring.

In an interview, Dar ruled out the possibility of a default on Pakistan's debt, an extension of the maturity date on bonds due in December, or a renegotiation of Pakistan's current International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.

The veteran finance minister said that multilateral development banks and international donors had been "quite flexible" with ways to meet Pakistan's external financing needs — estimated at about $32 billion after devastating floods.

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Some of this may come from re-allocating funds from previously approved, slower-disbursing development loans, he added.

Dar, who is participating in the IMF and World Bank annual meetings just over two weeks after taking office, said that Pakistan would be seeking restructuring on equal terms for all bilateral creditors.

He declined to comment when asked whether he thought it would be difficult to persuade China — the creditor of about $23 billion of the debt — to participate.

When asked whether Pakistan would seek to reduce the debt principal, he said that "rescheduling is fine, but we are not seeking a haircut ... That's not fair".

Rupee defender

Ishaq Dar, who served as Pakistan's finance minister three previous times — most recently from 2013 to 2017 — is known as a staunch defender of the rupee. He said that Pakistan had not engaged in physical intervention in the currency, which has been battered this year by a strong US dollar, but which has also rallied by about 10 per cent since his appointment.

He said that he views the "true value" of the rupee at a level under 200 to the dollar. It last traded at 219.

"I am for a stable currency, I am for a realistic rate. I am for market-based, but not subject to a currency being taken hostage" and making speculators billions of dollars.

Borrowing options

When asked whether he discussed with IMF officials the possibility of borrowing from the Fund's new Resilience and Sustainability Trust for middle-income countries, Dar simply said:

"We have discussed all options."

The Pakistan finance minister added that the IMF's new emergency "food shock" borrowing window might also be a good fit for the country, which has lost crops due to devastating floods, and may need to import up to half million of tons of wheat in the next year.

In this scenario, we have the possibility of approaching and accessing this facility, he said.

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