Chinese state bank's president arriving Pakistan on Monday

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Qudssia Akhlaque
ISLAMABAD: While the big question being asked in major official circles here is if China, Pakistan’s key strategic ally, will deliver or not to a cash-desperate government in Islamabad, Beijing is dispatching a high-powered Peoples Bank of China delegation to the capital early next week, according to a cabinet source.

The bank delegation led by its head arrives in Islamabad on Monday to hold top-level meetings with key members of the government’s economic team to assess Pakistan’s desperate need for cash. The delegation will have detailed discussions with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tareen and State Bank Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar.

“China is going to do something more and the Government of Pakistan should be patient,” a Chinese source told The News on Wednesday, adding for cash aid a process had to be followed and some time was required to do detailed assessments.

“I am sure the visit of the Chinese bank delegation which will include top economic experts will be very important and have a positive outcome,” the source said. Pointing out that the Chinese leadership had held out the assurance to President Zardari during his recent visit to Beijing that China will do for Pakistan whatever was within its capacity, the source noted: “So Pakistan should not worry, China values its commitments and will honour the promise it has made.”

The Chinese team is being dispatched after President Asif Zardari and his delegation during their visit to Beijing earlier this month shared with the Chinese leadership the dire straits that Pakistan’s economy was in at present. According to insiders, the Chinese were informed of Pakistan’s immediate need of a $2-3 billion cash input to avoid default. Reportedly, the Chinese were sympathetic towards Pakistan’s situation. Subsequently, the Chinese leadership decided to send a bankers team.

China has a consistent track record of helping Pakistan diplomatically, economically and militarily. Most recently in April the then-president Pervez Musharraf accompanied by the current foreign minister Shah Mehmud Qureshi had requested China for a $500 million cash bailout deposit. The Chinese had obliged.

Officials who accompanied President Zardari on his first bilateral visit to China are hopeful that the China Bank delegation will make a strong case to the Chinese leadership for yet another cash bailout for Pakistan.

Notably, China today has a current account surplus of $1.6 trillion dollars. According to a Chinese online newspaper, The Economic Observer, China’s foreign exchange reserves have reached $1.8 trillion.

According to strategic analysts, China as a far-sighted key global player stands by its strategic allies and it is unlikely that some immediate and significant financial help for Pakistan will not be forthcoming from Beijing. “Irrespective of who is in power in Islamabad, Pakistan’s strategic significance for its global ally China remains intact,” maintained one analyst.

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