Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) has said G20 countries' short-term foreign debt relief will not benefit Pakistan in the long run to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
PIAF chairman Mian Nauman Kabir, in a joint statement with senior vice chairman Nasir Hameed Khan and vice chairman Javed Iqbal, stated that there is no benefit to be had of the G20 countries' announcement of including Pakistan in a group of 72 countries eligible for an interim debt relief on principal and interest payments, as the suspension period for debt relief will remain only for few months till Dec 1, 2020.
Mian Nauman Kabir said that all debt service falling due in this period will be packaged into a new loan on which the repayments will again start from July 2022, which will have to be paid over three years.
While reiterating his demand for abolishing the whole debt, he appealed to the international community to write off the debts of vulnerable countries, including Pakistan, as the coronavirus may shatter the economies of developing countries.
PIAF chairman said that the world community should think of full debt write-off for countries like Pakistan, which are very vulnerable. At least that will help them cope with the coronavirus.
Nauman Kabir observed that Pakistan lacks fiscal space and a proper health system. Therefore, the most appropriate response that G20 countries can give at the moment is abandoning the loan instead of a temporary relief, he said.
"We appeal to the heads of financial institutions to announce the suspension of debt for Pakistan so that it could combat Covid-19," he said.
PIAF senior vice chairman Nasir Hameed Khan called for the anti-debt campaign on a vast-scale aimed at cancellation of debt of Pakistan.
He urged the donor countries and the international financial institutions to cancel Pakistan's foreign debt in this time of hardship. He asked them to extend grants to Pakistan instead of loans.
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