December 30, 2018: China has refuted a media report which has claimed that Pakistan would repay forty billion US dollars debt to China under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.
According to a statement issued by the Chinese embassy in Islamabad, the figure of forty billion US dollars is wrong and misleading.
The embassy said the Chinese government provided concessional loans of 5.874 billion dollars to Pakistan Government's major transportation infrastructure projects, with a composite interest rate of around 2% in repayment period of 20-25 years.
The embassy further said all the CPEC energy projects are investment in nature and the companies are responsible for their own profits and losses and repayment of loans.
The statement said the Chinese government provided interest-free loans for Expressway East Bay in Gwadar and also provided grant for some livelihood projects.
In nutshell, Pakistan will repay only 6.017 billion dollars along with interest to China.
