Pakistan assured of $13B funding from China, Saudi Arabia following catastrophic floods

Pakistan has been assured of $13 billion in funding from China and Saudi Arabia.

This is following the nation’s battle with the aftermath of catastrophic floods.

Following the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to Beijing, China has agreed to roll over $4 billion worth of sovereign loans to the South Asian nation, refinance another $3.3 billion in commercial bank borrowings and increase currency swap facility by as much as $1.45 billion, confirmed Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

The country is among a host of emerging- and frontier-market nations struggling to service heavy debt as their currency weakens against the US dollar and borrowing costs rise.

Its predicament has been worsened by climate change exacerbated flooding that led Moody’s Investors Service to downgrade the nation deeper into junk.

Saudi Arabia has also “given a positive response to Pakistan’s request for an additional $3 billion in funding and doubling of its deferred oil facility to $1.2 billion,” according to reports.