Jiang Chao, Xinhua News Agency): Madam, last week, the New York Times filed an opinion article claiming that Pakistan is mired in a deep economic crisis that it can’t climb out of partly because of the need to pay billions of dollars in loans to China for infrastructure and other projects. What is your comment?
Spokesperson: First, I would like to underline that China Pakistan Economic Corridor is a transformational project that has contributed positively and transparently to Pakistan’s national development. It enjoys support and popularity in all provinces of Pakistan and across the political divide in Pakistan. We also believe that regional economic connectivity will provide a critical stimulus for creating broad based growth across the region. CPEC is a long term project that has helped address development gaps in energy, infrastructure, industrialization and job creation. As we have said in the past, Pakistan’s total public debt relating to CPEC projects is a small percentage of its total debt. Moreover, the public debt obtained from China has longer maturity periods with low interest rates. The claims made by some commentators, including in the article that you mentioned in your question, regarding Pakistan’s debt obligations relating to CPEC, are therefore not based on facts.
