ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan received the foreign assistance amounting to US$ 3,552.11 million as loans and grants from various bilateral & multilateral development partners to address the health-related and socioeconomic challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Assembly was told on Thursday.
While replying to a question by Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Pakistan (MMAP), the Minister for Economic Affairs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar told the House in writing that the G-20 Countries provided a relief of US$ 2,012.47 million through debt service suspension to provide fiscal relief in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The details of the foreign assistance are as under:
The minister said that the external economic assistance provided a fiscal space to the government of Pakistan to divert financial resources for saving the live & livelihood of the common citizens and mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Khusro Bakhtiar said that it also helped the government to improve foreign exchange reserves, stabilize the exchange rate, and build buffers against external economic shocks.