Pakistani, Chinese Ministers Meet in Beijing with Debt Relief on Agenda

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Minister for Energy Awais Ahmad Khan Laghari with Minister of Finance China Lan Fo’an in Beijing today. Aurangzeb thanked the Chinese side for its invaluable economic and financial support to Pakistan in a time-tested way. He informed the Chinese side about the government’s economic reform agenda, including the efforts to strengthen tax revenue generation, energy and SOE reforms, and achieve sustainable growth. He described the recently concluded agreement between the IMF and Pakistan as an important enabler to execute the reform agenda. The energy minister outlined the ongoing reforms in the energy sector. He emphasized the government’s resolve to successfully overcome the operational and organizational challenges. Fo’an appreciated Pakistan’s resolve for a strong economic recovery while assuring China’s continued support of Pakistan’s economic development, including through a high-quality development agenda, and assured the continued support for Pakistan in the strategic partnership. He explained the Chinese experience of structural reforms over the last 30 years and suggested that this could be a good example for Pakistan to emulate. Later, Aurangzeb and Laghari also held a meeting with the President of China Export and Credit Insurance Corp (SINOSURE) at its Headquarters and discussed the latest reform agenda of the government of Pakistan. During the meeting, both ministers lauded SINOSURE’s role in the development of Pakistan, particularly during the first phase of CPEC. They showed confidence that SINOSURE will continue its full support for completing ongoing and new projects under the second phase of CPEC especially now led by the private sector. The President of China Export and Credit Insurance Corp (SINOSURE) welcomed the delegation and reiterated SINOSURE’s commitment towards the execution of socio-economic uplift projects under CPEC including B2B projects. Although nothing has been mentioned officially it’s understood that talks on power sector debt relief are the focus of the visit.