IMF, NAB become hurdles in way of only 'strategically important' CPEC project

Financing remained muddled for the multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project Mainline-1 (ML-1) after Pakistan took recently struck a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to details, the project has also been facing delay because the Planning Commission's bureaucracy is reluctant to process the project because of the continued heavy handedness of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) - especially in matters related to CPEC.

Members of the Planning Commission are also not clear on whether or not the country could sign a new loan deal with China for the construction of the $8.5 billion project under the Railway ministry, as expressed by Planning secretary Zaffar Hasan in a parliamentary committee meeting.

While the IMF has not directly stopped Pakistan from undertaking any new CPEC projects, it has brought it under new debt sustainability goals. ML-1 is the only project of CPEC that has been declared 'strategically important' by both Pakistan and China, but has seen continued delays for the past four years.