The Foreign Ministry said on Friday that claims by some commentators and officials on Pakistan’s debts regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were contrary to the facts.
Earlier, the United States urged China to wave off or renegotiate what it called Pakistan’s “unsustainable and unfair” debt, as it once again raised serious questions about the lack of transparency in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
“We have reiterated many times that our total public debt relating to CPEC projects is less than even 10pc of the total debt. Moreover, the public debt obtained from China has a maturity period of 20 years and the interest is 2.34pc. If grants are included, the interest value slides down to about two per cent,” said the Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui, rejecting western propaganda over CPEC.
“The claims made by some of the commentators and public officials on Pakistan’s debt obligations relating to CPEC are contrary to facts,” she said, adding that CPEC, a long-term project, has helped address development gaps in energy, infrastructure, industrialization, and job creation.
“Pakistan and China are ‘all-weather strategic cooperative partners’. We are engaged in prompting peace, development and stability in the region based on the principles of mutual respect, mutual benefit, win-win cooperation and shared development. Our ties are based on deep mutual trust and understanding.”
