U.S. concerns on CPEC are not right: Asad Umar
Planning Minister Asad Umar was addressing a press conference in Karachi.
KARACHI (Dunya News) – Federal Minister for planning Asad Umar on Saturday said China-Pakistan relations are not against anyone. He said concerns of U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Alice Wells on CPEC are not right.
Addressing a press conference, he said first phase of CPEC has been completed and to expedite progress of CPEC remains the top priority of the government. He said China-Pakistan relations could not be derailed over concerns of others.
Minster for Planning Asad Umar said economic growth will improve with the paying of loans. The Minister said it is true that foreign debt of the country has reached to a level that is impeding the growth of economy. He said the loans were taken in the past as imports exceeded exports of the country and trade deficit was increasing.
He said total public debt of the country stands at 74 billion dollars. Of this, the debt from China is 18 billion dollars, less than one fourth. He said CPEC related debt out of 18 billion dollars is 4.9 billion dollars. He said CPEC loan is 7 percent of the total external debt.
Asad Umar said three fourth of the debt is from other countries or multilateral institutions. He said Chinese institutions funded Pakistan at a difficult economic time due to deep friendship bonds between the two countries.
The Minister expressed satisfaction that commercial bilateral debt with China will start reducing at a faster pace in the coming years and will be replaced by multilateral debt.
Asad Umar said the public debt taken from China has a maturity of 20 years with average interest rate of 2.34 percent. He said the first phase of CPEC focused on road infrastructure and energy related projects.
He said Pakistan wants to welcome investment from US and Europe.
Umar said US president Donald Trump has appreciated Pakistan’s role in Afghan peace process and Pakistan wants an Indian government that promotes regional peace.
