The government of Pakistan on Monday signed a Debt Service Suspension Agreement (DSSA) with the French Republic, amounting to the suspension of loans worth $107 million under the G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) framework.

The amount, initially repayable between July-Dec, 2021 will now be repaid over a period of six years including one-year grace period in semi-annual instalments, said Pakistan's Economic Affairs Division.

“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,” read the statement

As per the ministry, the agreement was signed by Mian Asad Hayaud Din, Federal Secretary for Economic Affairs Division and H.E. Nicolas Galey, the Ambassador of the French Republic to Pakistan in Islamabad.

Pakistan has already signed agreements with France for suspension of $261 million.

Forex, PSEs and banks liabilities not included: $88.8bn external debt recorded at end of March

Under the DSSI framework, the total amount of debt suspended and rescheduled covering the period from May 2020 to December 2021, stands at $3,688 million.

Pakistan has already concluded and signed 93 agreements with 21 bilateral creditors for the rescheduling of its debts under the G-20 DSSI framework, amounting to rescheduling of almost $3,150 million.

“The signing of above-mentioned agreements brings this total to $3,257 million,” informed the ministry, adding that negotiations for remaining agreements to be signed under the G-20 DSSI are on-going.

Earlier this month, Pakistan signed two Debt Service Suspension Agreements amounting to suspension of loans worth $197.49 million, under the DSSI framework.

Of this total amount, $191.60 million were owed to JICA during the period from January to June 2021 and $5.89 million were owed to the Government of the Swiss Confederation during the period from July to December 2021.