ISLAMABAD: The Government of Pakistan on Wednesday signed a debt service suspension agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), amounting to deferment of payment of loans worth $172 million, under the G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) framework.
This amount, initially repayable between July and December 2021 will now be repaid over a period of six years (including one-year grace period) in semi-annual instalments.
The Government of Pakistan has already signed agreements with JICA for suspension of $506 million. Due to the support extended by the development partners of Pakistan, the G-20 DSSI has provided the fiscal space which was necessary to deal with the urgent health and economic needs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Last phase of G20 DSSI: Pakistan, Japan agree on $160m debt deferral
The total amount of debt that has been suspended under the DSSI framework, covering the period from May 2020 to December 2021, stands at $3.686 billion.
Pakistan has already concluded and signed 102 agreements with 21 bilateral creditors for the deferment of its debt repayments under the G-20 DSSI, amounting to suspension and deferment of almost $3.441 billion. The signing of Wednesday’s agreement brings this total to $3.613 billion. Negotiations for remaining agreements to be signed under the G-20 DSSI are ongoing.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.