ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday denied China had stopped funding for three China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and the government hadn’t been notified of this decision.
This is contrary to an earlier statement of Minister for Planning and Development/Interior, Ahsan Iqbal who said China had stopped disbursement of funds for three CPEC projects, reported The News.
A spokesman for the foreign office in its weekly media briefing said “We have not received any information from the Chinese side regarding halting of funding for any project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. “These projects are steered by Pakistan-China JCC. The funding for CPEC projects is approved and disbursed as per the agreed principles between the governments, ministries and companies of the two countries.”
On the contrary, Ahsan Iqbal had told a parliamentary committee regarding CPEC that three projects were stalled due to China’s unwillingness to release funds as had been earlier agreed between the two sides. They wanted a completion revision of financial mechanism, said Iqbal.
Further the spokesman added “Several ministries and provincial departments are stakeholders from our side, while from the Chinese side several state-owned enterprise (SOEs), companies and ministries are involved in various projects.”
