Pakistan Wants China to ‘Reprofile’ Debt to Help Support Reforms

(Bloomberg) — Pakistan has sought Chinese help to “reprofile” its debts with rollovers and maturity extensions to create more breathing room for economic reforms it’s seeking to enact under a new International Monetary Fund’s $7 billion loan program.

Discussed with central bank officials during a recent visit to Beijing was a proposal to extend the maturity of debt for nine power plants built by Chinese companies under the multibillion dollar economic corridor, called CPEC, as well as that for an electricity transmission project, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said at a news conference in Islamabad.