Pakistan’s newly elected Prime Minister, Imran Khan recently visited China and his discussions have brought yet another relief to Pakistan. After Imran Khan explained Pakistan’s financial problems in a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqianq, the Chinese officials agreed to help Pakistan with economic aid, but they also said that further discussions are needed on the details of the matter.
China is Pakistan’s strongest ally. Chinese Premier Li, said that Pakistan and China are all-weather partners and China will help Pakistan to avert financial crisis. When Khan’s government won the elections, it was stated that they would rethink the CPEC project and focus more on social development. However, in the meeting with Li, Imran Khan showed no such intention to scale back the project. Infact, he invited Li to visit Pakistan to see how well the CPEC project is going on and how it has influenced the Pakistani people with positivity. Also, Chinese Premier Li said that the project will be altered in favor of areas relating to people’s lives.
Saudi Arabia has already agreed to a $6 billion rescue package to help Pakistan avoid balance of payment crisis. This agreement was also signed after Imran Khan’s visit to Saudi Arabia where he had explained Pakistan’s economic crisis. Pakistan is still seeking for a bailout from the IMF, since experts have predicted that this amount will not be enough.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan is asking friendly countries for help because he thinks that this is more feasible than the IMF loan. He said that the IMF loan comes with harsh conditions which would affect the country in a bad manner. He hopes that Pakistan will be able to avoid taking the IMF loan or at least take as little as possible.