China is Pakistan’s largest foreign development financing provider since 2012: Report

Gwadar Pro

Islamabad: Since 2012, China has been Pakistan’s single-largest foreign development financing provider, outspending the United States by a significant margin in recent years, a report showed.

The latest report by AidData, a US-based international development research lab, reveals that Pakistan ranks third globally in Chinese development finance with USD 70.3bn portfolio.

The report, which claims to have drawn it from more than 5,300 sources, highlights that two percent of China’s investments in Pakistan between 2000 and 2021 were in the form of grants, while the majority was in the form of loans.

The energy sector received the most significant share of development finance at 40 percent or USD 28.4 billion during the 2000-2021 period. General budget support and transport and storage were the next major recipients of Chinese financing, with 30 percent (USD 21.3 billion) and 14 percent (USD 9.7 billion), respectively.

The report also breaks down Chinese development finance administration-wise, noting that the PML-N government (2013-17) attracted the highest flows, totaling USD 36.2 billion during the 21-year period, followed by the PTI government with USD 19.6 billion, the PPP government with USD 10.4 billion, and the Pervez Musharraf government with USD 4.1 billion.

The data indicates that 82 percent of the projects committed to until 2021 were completed, with 13 percent remaining under implementation.