ISLAMABAD: The government, on Monday, signed a debt service suspension agreement with the Republic of Korea amounting to deferment of payment of loans worth $19.911 million, under the G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) framework.

The Economic Affairs Division (EAD) stated that this amount initially had to be repaid between July and December 2021, and will now be repaid over a period of six years (including one-year grace period) in semi-annual installments.

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 urgent health and economic needs of Pakistan. The total amount of debt, that is to be suspended under the DSSI framework, covering the period of repayment from May 2020 to December 2021, stands at $3.686 billion.

Pakistan has already concluded and signed 104 agreements with 21 bilateral creditors for the deferment of its debt repayments under the G-20 DSSI, amounting to $3.633 billion. The signing of the latest agreement brings this total to $3.653 billion. Negotiations for the remaining agreements to be signed under the G-20 DSSI are ongoing, said the EAD.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023