China to roll over $500 mn loan to State Bank of Pakistan for one more year

China has agreed to roll over a loan of $500 million that it has placed with the State Bank of Pakistan as Islamabad's official foreign currency reserves remain in a precarious position despite taking $44 billion in loans in the past five years.

The Express Tribune reported that the People's Bank of China, through China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), had deposited $ 500 million with the SBP in June 2012.

The loan is going to mature in the first week of June this year, but China has agreed to roll it over for one more year, said sources in the ministry of finance.

Pakistan cannot use the $500 million Chinese deposit and its only purpose is to shore up foreign currency reserves.

According to sources, the loan has been rescheduled at the same old terms. Since the money could not be utilised, the interest rate was only 1 per cent, they said.

During the week ended May 18, the SBP's gross reserves dropped $ 479 million to only $10.32 billion due to payments on account of external debt servicing. The reserves are barely enough for two months of imports and are below the International Monetary Fund's adequacy levels.

US govt records $215 bn budget deficit in Feb as revenues fall, outlays up

The US government had a $215 billion budget shortfall in February as revenues into the government's coffers fell and outlays increased, the Treasury Department said on Monday.

That compared with a budget deficit of $192 billion in the same month last year, according to Treasury's monthly budget statement.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the Treasury recording a $216 billion deficit last month.

The deficit for February was not affected by timing-related transactions.

The deficit for the fiscal year, which began in October, was $391 billion, compared to a deficit of $351 billion in the same period of fiscal 2017.

When accounting for calendar adjustments, the deficit for the fiscal year to date was $448 billion, compared to an adjusted total of $390 billion for the prior fiscal year.