Khusro lauds Germany for extending $99mn debt relief to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar Wednesday lauded Germany for extending debt relief of almost $99 million to Pakistan during a call on meeting with German Ambassador to Pakistan Bernhard Stephen Schlagheck.

Both the sides exchanged views on economic outlook in post-COVID 19 situation and ongoing portfolio of Germany in Pakistan, said a press release.

The minister thanked and appreciated Germany for extending debt relief of around $99 million under G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to Pakistan during the pandemic.

He appreciated the Germany’s continuing economic cooperation worth of £3 billion in field of energy, health, education, governance, sustainable development and micro-finance sectors of Pakistan.

The minister shared the details of structural reform agenda undertaken by the current government on key elements including good governance, institution building, transparency and accountability for better public service delivery.

He apprised the ambassador of G2G negotiations worth of £109 million on various projects encompassing energy, Sustainable Economic Development and Governance during the session held at Germany last year.

The minister proposed to hold session of the forum at Islamabad this year and area of priority might be extended focusing towards health, human resource development, climate change and green environmental technology, housing, tourism and e-governance in the future.

He also discussed the German Strategy for 2021-26 that would be beneficial for Pakistan and would be finalized in consultation with Pakistan government.

He said a real-time information sharing and monitoring might be framed to connect donor, Pakistan government and implementing partners for effective and timely execution of the projects.

The ambassador appreciated the economic policies of the current government and strategy of ‘smart lockdown’ to curtail the COVID-19 in the country.

He agreed upon the proposed areas of the priority by the minister to enhance the area of G2G engagement between both the countries.

He said Germany was keen to continue economic cooperation with Pakistan in future and portfolio would be strengthening in the post-pandemic situation.