The Pakistani government and France have signed an agreement under the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), which will suspend $107 million in loans.
The agreement, signed by Federal Secretary for Economic Affairs Division Mian Asad Hayaud Din and Ambassador of the French Republic (France) to Pakistan Nicolas Galey, will extend the repayment period from 21 months to 6 years, with a one-year grace period.
Economic Affairs Division, Government of Pakistan tweeted; The Government of Pakistan signed a Debt Service Suspension Agreement with the French Republic, amounting to suspension of loans worth USD 107 million, under the G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) framework.
The Government of Pakistan has already signed agreements with the French Republic for a suspension of $261 million. The Ministry of Finance has noted that, due to support extended by development partners of Pakistan, the G20 DSSI has provided the fiscal space necessary to deal with the urgent health and economic needs of Pakistan.
As of December 2021, the total amount of debt that has been suspended and rescheduled under the DSSI framework amounts to $3,688 million, according to the ministry.
Pakistan has already concluded and signed 93 agreements with 21 bilateral creditors for the rescheduling of debts under the G20 DSSI framework, amounting to the rescheduling of almost $3,150 million.
Taking the signing of the aforementioned agreements into account, this total comes to $3,257 million. Negotiations for the remaining agreements to be signed under the G20 DSSI are ongoing.
Earlier this month, Pakistan signed two debt service suspension agreements with Japan and Switzerland for the suspension of USD 197.5 million in loans. A similar agreement was signed in March with the Saudi Fund for Development for the suspension of debt servicing of USD 846 million.
